Submerged in Sand
by Sueszi
Summary: [OC] Hotaru was found in the outskirts of Sunagakure, brainwashed by amnesia. After returning home, her neighbor, Hachiro, takes care of her, by reminding her of what it was like being a ninja. As innocent as she was, Hotaru decides to spend the next two years warming up to Temari, and keeps Hachiro close. But her journey didn't end there, as her curiosity&questions only increased.
1. Preview

_"I've been thinking on what we do to open the next door,_

 _we can't retrace our steps anymore; the story's already begun._

 _Open your eyes."_

* * *

"It's nothing, really," she muttered quietly, her gaze directed to her feet. "I don't particularly…think anything about it."

He almost scoffed at the response. "If I know you at all, then I know that that's not how you truly feel."

 _Then you probably don't know me._

"I mean," she said, a bit too loud for her own liking. "I'm wondering why you didn't tell me, or why you didn't warn me…" as she trailed off, tears began to stream down her cheeks, forcibly uplifted and trembling.

Taking a step forward, he was unsure of how to react exactly; whether he wanted to scold her or comfort her blurred together in one, thick line. "What could I tell you?" his voice shuddered faintly. "And… _what_ are you talking about? All this time, Tema-chan and I tried warning you. And what would you do? Rebel against us and try to see _'good'_ in someone that had none. Look at where it got you, idiot."

It was unnecessary for him to insult her that way, but for some reason, he couldn't stop himself from saying it.

Turning to him, she blinked more tears out of her eyes. "He _is_ good…I didn't know them to begin with, so…I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Yet here you are, trying not to cry." He pointed out shamelessly as he folded his arms, mildly annoyed. "You got your proof. You don't have to defend him anymore. Are you fucking happy now?"

"Don't talk to me like that." She hissed, shaking her head as she shut her eyes tight. Slowly, she looked up at his steel grey eyes, seeing little to no emotion behind them. "...Did you know, Hachiro?"

"I didn't," he shrugged carelessly. "But I warned you _so_ many times. Me, Tema-chan, Kankurō-kun, Miko-chan, Ryota-sensei...should I continue? Or are you finally understanding how _fucking stupid_ you are?"

"Watch your tongue."

At this point, she was only enraged at his words and his actions; a part of her felt as though he _wanted_ her to be angry…he _wanted_ her to seek revenge, even though that was far from what she desired.

"Listen, we both know that that's not what's bothering you right now," muttered Hachiro, as-a-matter-of-factly. "What's bothering you is your blindness to the truth. You know what I'm gonna say? I'm gonna say, _I fucking told you so._ "

With a deliberate exhale parting her lips, she fell to her knees and crouched in a fetal position, embracing herself. She hadn't realized that she was crying until tears began to dot the wooden floorboards beneath her; what frustrated her beyond belief was not the revelation of the truth, but rather, the way her teammate had expected her to respond to it.

 _He's good. He has goodness within him, I know it. Why does Hachiro want me to see him as nothing but a monster?_

 _I'm not stupid or delusional…I'm not in denial. I didn't know those people. It doesn't matter to me._

Hachiro let out a lengthy, exasperated sigh, still torn between rebuking and reassuring her—but then, after what felt like long minutes in the suffocating ambiance, the older-brother instinct kicked in and made him stride to her in one large step, crouching on his knees to her level. "Come on, get up. You're not a fucking kid."

"Hachiro," she whispered, steadying her shaking arms with a tight grasp. "Language…"

He chuckled half-heartedly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Out of all the things you can say to me, you tell me to watch my language?"

A little smile pulled at the corners of her lips, but she knew that she couldn't allow his behavior to slide; with a quick nibble on the inside of her mouth, she removed herself from his touch, sniffling faintly.

Surprised by her response, he disappointingly lowered his hands and inched backwards himself. "You know I don't like seeing you this way, Hotaru."

"I told you…I'm fine," mumbling, she looked up at him again, attempting to assure him with a soft smile. "Maybe I just need to think about it…by myself." But she knew that there was nothing to think about; she knew that she didn't want to take any action. What would be the point if she did?

"I mean, you're not lying to me, are you? You and the others _truly_ didn't know, right? You didn't hide it from me…to spare my feelings or...whatever..."

"You _know_ that's not how it is between us," he growled. "I'm just as brutally honest as you _think_ you are."

"Do I, though? Do I know _anything_ right now? After…after today…I'm not sure what to believe anymore, really. This isn't like you either, Hachiro…"

Her questions irritated him, somewhat bothering him on a higher, emotional level. "You know _me_ , Hotaru, and I know you more than anyone ever could." Releasing a sigh, he shook his head, rapidly blinking as his brows furrowed. "I'm sorry. Maybe I…I expected you to react differently."

He wasn't sure _why_ : why did he expect a different reaction from her—a reaction full of hate and anger. Because, he truly _did_ know her more than anyone else; a part of him should've known that she wouldn't want to hurt Gaara.

The sensation of denial gripped his insides; the roles should've been reversed, he believed, but Hotaru seemed more than one-hundred percent sure of her next course of actions.

 _If_ she's _not in denial,_ he thought, scrutinizing the subtle movement of her features. _Then…does it really not matter to her? Besides…why does her calm reaction annoy me so much?_

"I'm sorry," he repeated, running a hand through his hair. "I really am."

Hotaru abruptly shrugged, wiping her eyes with her wrists. "I understand, Chiro-nii."

The mention of the honorific she usually gave him brought some sort of comfort to him; without knowing it, he was already smiling slightly. "Are you sure about this, Aru-chan?"

Just then, the mood had lifted for the both of them; Hotaru glanced at him with nothing more but adoration in her brown eyes. The thought of him being able to trust her after what had happened that day guaranteed her far beyond her wildest beliefs – but…something felt a little off in the light behind his eyes.

"I'm sure," she forced her smile to widen. "Dipstick."

 _What a naïve little girl,_ he thought as he followed her smile.

Little did Hotaru know that things were drastically going to change between them from then on.


	2. First Arc: Commence

_"Tell me how you feel over & done with,  
like your life is a map with no compass to guide."_

* * *

Hotaru shot up in bed with wide open eyes and heavy breaths, startled and confused by a nightmare that had practically shoved her to consciousness.

Dark brown eyes dilated and matching brown hair in a mess, she hyperventilated and wiped off a rolling tear as the scenes of her nightmare came around one last time, before it was processed that she was safe in her room. She gulped, then steadily turned to the side and got up.

Noticing the sun's slow rise to the lilac sky, she shivered to the feel of the cool, wooden ground beneath her bare feet. A dull ache pulled at the hair on her head, reminding her of the late night thoughts she had, but not reminding her of how she had dozed off.

 _Oh crud, it's not today...is it?_ She wondered as she trudged to the bathroom, immediately taking a well-needed, brisk shower. As if the headache weren't enough to frustrate her in the early morning, she found herself pondering over the events that were to happen today, groaning at the thought of joining a team with an elite ninja, a jōnin, and two other ninja at her level, genins.

 _I don't like being told what to do, damn it._ "Forget this," she muttered, rolling her eyes and drying off in a canine manner before slamming her body back to bed.

Another groan reached out of her lungs as she found difficulty in falling asleep once more, especially right after a shower.

But such a careless reaction was understandable by someone who had lived alone for majority of their conscious life. It was pure laziness that led her back to bed; pure distaste at having to cook for herself and clean after herself and get dressed and so on.

If there were one thing she purely detested when she'd _try_ to sleep, it was the voices in her head.

 _Hiden,_ a woman's voice was heard. _Go hard or go home!_

"I'll work on it later," Hotaru mumbled, only half-listening to the echoes of her memories.

 _She has other things to focus on, don't forget that,_ a male voice replied to the first woman.

Hotaru outwardly frowned, utterly confused in her oblivion.

 _But we're not even sure about that!_ The woman responded, irritated _._

A knock on the door was heard, and the dream continued in darkness.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open, and she quickly gasped and shot up once more as she concluded that she had overslept.

"Crud! On _this_ day, out of all days!" she growled in frustration. Swiftly standing, she rushed over to her cupboard and wore what she always did: a mesh armor t-shirt under maroon tube top and grey shorts with black sandals.

Strapping the kunai and shuriken pouch to her right thigh, she added a brown belt to her attire in order to carry her water bottles. The forehead protector went around her neck, although, turned the opposite direction.

Looking to her mirror, which was conveniently placed beside the door, she narrowed her eyes at the sight of a slightly fresh cut on the bridge of her nose.

"That dipstick Chiro..." she muttered, rubbing the dry blood. "Not watching where his damn fists go."

With one last look, she eyed her left limb and studied the deep scar that coiled around her forearm like a long bracelet, feeling utter dread at the sight that held no memories. She sighed soon after, running out of her house.

With her teeth sunk into a red, juicy apple, Hotaru tied her hair up in a high pony tail before entering the academy, as late and as noisy as she could ever be. With her clumsiness, she had to spin back as soon as she noticed that she had passed the door to her class.

Stopping and removing the fruit from the grip of her teeth, she inhaled deeply and charged into the classroom, only to greet the ground with a hard thud to her chin.

The class broke out in a rumble of giggles; a particular female with blonde hair tied into four consecutive ponytails began to shake her head at the sight as she chuckled softly, while a pair of opposite genders rolled their eyes and scoffed.

"You're late," said the class teacher flatly, now standing over Hotaru.

She stood and brushed herself off, bowing immediately. "Daisuke-sensei, I'm so sorry! It won't happen again!"

"I know it won't, and this may be the last time you'll have to run twenty times around the academy," the teacher, Daisuke, chuckled at such a mediocre method of 'punishment'. "The teams have been already formed but by special request, you're going to be placed on a certain team that's short of one more female ninja—a kunoichi."

She stood up straight and frowned at the man. "Hm?"

He smirked for a moment, crossing his arms. "You will be on team seven, with Hirayama Kamiko and Iwai Hachiro."

"About time," said a rather muscular boy, sitting on the left side of the class and flipping his almost-jet-black hair from his eyes. The expression on his face read ' _I'm bored. So bored. I am so, incredibly, inhumanly bored'_ as he closed his grey eyes.

"What?" Hotaru whined before glancing at the blonde sitting on the right of the class, who faintly gave a playful pout.

Hotaru was surprised to see her best friend there. After all, the blonde had graduated from the academy almost three years ago; the same went for Hachiro.

"Why do I have to be with them?" the brunette continued. _How degrading is it to have me placed in a team of genins not only older than me, but also, possibly, a lot more skilled than I am?!_

"If she doesn't like it, assign her into a different team, Daisuke-sensei." An irritating, female voice spoke. It came from the right of Hachiro, sitting with her hands folded on the desk.

Hotaru growled under her breath. _And I have to be on_ her _team too?!_

Kamiko's hair was mahogany and straight, patted down on her face and covering her right eye. From where Hotaru stood, it showed that her attire wasn't much of what a _serious_ kunoichi would wear, but then again, that's what she thought when she first met her best friend.

Hotaru said nothing as she walked to the desk and sat beside Hachiro; although she did mumble something along the lines of 'dead-weight', which Kamiko happened to hear.

"Daisuke-sensei! Are you going to let her talk like that?" Kamiko shot up shouting, sending a finger to Hotaru's face.

Hachiro threw his head back and groaned. _…Good job, Hotaru._

Their superior only sent a hand to his face as he sighed, beginning to explain. "Unfortunately, none of us have a choice here. Hachiro and Kamiko lost their teacher as well as their teammate this year, not too long ago. According to the information given to me by Kazekage-sama, putting you in their team makes more sense than putting you in anyone else's; you three contradict one another in a more balancing way than you'd believe.

"Hotaru, you will be put with them because of the loss of their third teammate." His tone lowered slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the females in the new-found team. "So, Hotaru, Kamiko, you two could spar as much as you want to later on. I won't have it in my class."

At this point, Hotaru's mind drifted into a trance-like state of pure irritation as Daisuke's words played in the background. Her brown eyes met with Kamiko's green ones as they commenced a glare-off.

"Sit _down,_ " Hachiro commanded, his patience growing thin. "We have years ahead of us for this nonsense. Right now, you're only wasting your energy."

Kamiko exhaled heavily and folded her arms once more, turning her face to the wall on her right. Her insides burned as old memories floated on the white surface, making her miss what used to be.

"Dipstick." Hotaru muttered.

"I HEARD THAT, FATHEAD." Kamiko shouted back.

" _Why_ are you two even here?" asked Hotaru, exasperated. "Even Temari and Kankurō-kun are here."

"We needed another teammate," Hachiro mumbled as he closed his eyes, stitching his fingers together at the back of his head. "As for them; they're probably here to pick up their brother or something."

"Care to elaborate, dipstick?" Hotaru rested her head on the palm of her hand, scrutinizing him. To her, he was more of an older sibling than simply a friend. The fact that they were not blood-related was minor and insignificant; because she knew that she would go through hell and back again for him. His sight brought a soft smile to her features. _Tch, dipstick..._

"Weren't you listening?" Hachiro continued, crossing his arms and opening his eyes. "Because of Nirako-chan and Arata-sensei's... _passing,_ we went to Kazekage-sama for another teammate, but due to the lack of shinobi and kunoichi in the village, he suggested that we head over here since the genins' graduation ceremony was yesterday."

"Uh...huh?"

"What 'uh-huh'?" Kamiko snapped. "Obviously, you were chosen to be on our team."

"Why _me_ , though?" Hotaru ignored the green-eyed girl's remark, focusing solely on the boy beside her. "I'm not even the second in class."

Hachiro scoffed. "You're third, which is good enough for us. Plus, Kamiko-chan's grown pretty attached to you." He gave Hotaru a wink.

"What? Speak for yourself, fathead!" argued Kamiko.

"In any case," continued the silver-eyed boy. "We spoke to Daisuke-sensei before he could place us with a random classmate of yours. Plus, we can't exactly enter the chūnin exams without a third teammate."

"I'm _so_ convenient." Hotaru said in escalated sarcasm.

* * *

Minutes passed and students began to fade from the class. Ticks from the big circular clock counted down the time as more teachers entered and picked up their teams, leaving only two behind.

"Where could they be? This is _not_ professional." Hotaru groaned, getting up from her seat and walking around the class room to where her blonde best friend sat.

"Jealous?" Hachiro teased Kamiko, who was watching Hotaru closely.

" _No_ , but... _that_ girl, over _me?"_

Her teammate shook his head at her ignorant assumptions. "Look, I know you miss her and she means a lot to you, but since her memories were...I don't know, _wiped out,_ she had the chance to have a do-over. Why's that so bad?"

"Because she _hates_ her." She hissed back.

Hachiro looked at Hotaru, who already initiated a conversation with the blonde girl. Her cheeks went pink and her smile went wide, laughing while she spoke. "Doesn't look that way, Kamiko-chan,"

"That's only because she doesn't _remember_."

"Remember _what?_ We've talked about this so many times, yet you don't even know what she forgot." Hachiro replied rather loudly, bringing about the attention of the other team and the plus one on their side.

"Kid, I think you should go back to your team. They seem kind of...ticked off-jaan." The boy on the far end of the desk said, face covered in violet Kabuki makeup.

"Let them be, Kankurō-kun," said Hotaru casually. "I mean, I adore them and all, but Miko-chan can be a real dipstick; kind of like you."

He chuckled before the last thing she said replayed in his head. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You heard me; don't get your strings in a bunch." Hotaru smiled, jokily.

"Hotaru," the blonde known as Temari, her best friend, murmured. "Don't start."

"Yeah-jaan," Kankurō hissed. "You don't want to get beat, do you?" a slight smirk played on his features.

"Kurō-kun, the moment you step into a fight with me, you'll be on the floor before you could even unwrap Karasu." Hotaru countered, used to situations like these with Temari's younger brother.

"Oh, yeah-jaan?" Kankurō yelled in irritation. "You wanna go then? Let's go—"

"Come on," Temari sighed, in no mood for trouble as she slapped her face in return to their interaction. "Kankurō, grow up and go back to your seat."

" _What?_ You tell your _friend_ here to grow up-jaan!"

"She's already younger than you, yet you _act_ younger. So, stop."

"Baki-sensei will be here soon, so I suggest you pull yourself together as well." the redheaded boy, known as Gaara, spoke this time, looking up at his older brother before shifting his eyes to Hotaru.

Hotaru looked to the one who spoke; Temari's youngest brother. Or in other words: host of the one-tailed beast, the monster, the jinchūriki, the demon, _etc_.

His red hair looked like it needed to be brushed and his eyes were empty spheres of mint green, surrounded in thick black… _ink?_ _No, not ink_ — simply an oddity of some sort. On his rather large forehead was a deep, unhealed scar of what she recognized to be a kanji character.

 _What a cool method of tattooing yourself,_ she sarcastically thought, but still found the scar quite fascinating.

She smiled softly as she met his gaze, her insides tightening slightly at the hardness of his features; her mind slowly registered the image her eyes reflected, bringing about emotions she had always felt around him and things she _knew_ she felt already.

As if she had already known him before her memories were taken from her.

 _Do I?_

"How do you know he's coming?" she asked with a faint smile in her voice, unable to control her actions anymore as they tore between confusion and affection.

Temari shook her head, rolling her eyes.

Gaara stood slowly. "I just do." And in a split-second, he was engulfed in a whirlwind of sand, disappearing from his position.

"Let's get going-jaan," Kankurō declared, tugging at the fabric of his sister's clothes. He then turned to Hotaru and pointed a finger at her. "I'll deal with you later."

The brunette stuck her tongue out in his departing direction. Then she turned to her blonde best friend, who stood up and stated walking down the path to the exit of the classroom.

"It's really cool."

"What's really cool?" Temari chuckled, looking at Hotaru over her shoulder.

"How your brother does that thing with the sand. Do you know how hard it is to master a teleportation jutsu?!" Hotaru exclaimed, jumping in front of Temari before she could leave.

The blonde shook her head. "How hard is it?" she half-smiled at her best friend, amused by her reaction to Gaara's abilities. _Most people would run away from that; just as you should be doing, Hotaru..._

"Extremely! The chakra control, his body particles needing to move from one place to another—faster than the freaking speed of light, Temari!"

Temari chuckled as a darker sensation loomed over her. "I'll see you soon, Hotaru."

"See you, Temari." Hotaru reached forward and gave her a hug, along with a parting kiss.

"Don't _do_ that," Temari's face scrunched up in disgust as she wiped her cheek.

"Two years and you still react the same way," Hotaru shook her head and moved out of the way. She then turned to her teammates, placing her hands on her hips. "Hey kids, all good?"


	3. 1 - Team Partners

_"To jealousy,_

 _Nothing is more frightful than laughter."_

* * *

"You should try joining _their_ team," said Kamiko spitefully, the aura around her fogging with the color of her eyes. "If _we_ are such a burden to you and your emotions, that is."

Hotaru frowned at her, soon avoiding her gaze and looking to Hachiro. _What's the deal with her?_

As if hearing her thoughts, Hachiro only shrugged as he got up and walked to where Hotaru stood.

"So," he sat on a desk in front of Hotaru, wiping his hands on his matching, dull-green trousers. "Improved your chakra control? Got that water jutsu down, or what?"

"Yeah. I've been training with what I have in here," she pointed to her head and strode to Hachiro's side, pulling herself up to sit beside him. "And I'm getting there, I suppose."

"That's good, then. Can you turn into water yet?"

"Well, I can turn my arms and my—"

A knock from the door cut her off as it creaked open slightly, revealing a milk-skinned man hidden behind large black goggles. His coal black hair was short and pointing upwards, while a goatee dusted his chin. He also had a toothpick sticking out of his lips.

"Finally!" Kamiko huffed, stamping to the door. Her sandals consisted of small heels, which clicked along the hardwood of the floor. "Why are you so late, sensei?"

"First of all," his voice was light and friendly, yet somewhat startling. "You don't speak to me that way. If you have an inquiry, you ask with decency." He slightly relaxed his stance, stepping into the room completely. "I am Ryota, which you might have heard from Daisuke-san. I'll be your sensei."

"Clearly." Hachiro said, jumping off the table. Hotaru followed suit.

"You'll be addressing me as Ryota-sensei," their superior declared, but before he could continue, Hotaru interrupted him.

"Ah, Ryota-sensei!" Hotaru exclaimed, half-bowing. "I-I have to run twenty laps around the academy as punishment. I'm sorry for the inconvenience!"

Ryota raised an eyebrow. "Punishment? For what?" _I'm assigned to a bunch of delinquents?_

"She was late," Hachiro grunted. "That's all."

Letting out a faint sigh of relief, Ryota turned to the door and looked at Hotaru over his shoulder. "We'll be on one of the rooftops. Catch up to us if you can."

 _Huh?!_ Hotaru's eyes widened.

"See you, fathead." Kamiko smirked as she passed her by.

Hachiro placed a hand on Hotaru's shoulder. When she looked up at him, he smiled.

"Good luck, Hotaru."

 _Tch…dipsticks!_ And she was abruptly alone in the class as the rest of her new found team disappeared.

* * *

 _Where the hell are they?_

Hotaru took about forty-five minutes, running around the academy twenty times. Now out of breath, she searched the rooftops for any sign of her teammates. It didn't take her too long, since Kamiko's voice was heard from her far left.

There they were, under the blazing sun sitting in a little circle.

Drinking up from her water bottle and letting out a sigh, she dashed to their direction, much faster compared to how she was running a few minutes earlier.

"Speak of the devil…" Kamiko mumbled, rubbing the side of her head. Hachiro turned to look behind him, seeing Hotaru approach with a wide smile on her face.

"FOUND YOU! HA!" The brunette exclaimed, pointing at them.

"Well, yeah. We're sitting on a rooftop in the middle of the day; did you think it was going to be a challenge?" Kamiko grimaced, closing her eyes. Hotaru opened up her mouth to say something, but Kamiko continued to speak. "Just because you're on our team doesn't mean you're on our level. Wipe that smile off your face, fathead."

Her statement definitely took Hotaru somewhat aback. "Hmm?" she questioned, arching an eyebrow and tilting her head as she walked to Kamiko and Ryota's side to take a seat. "What are you talking about, you half-wit?"

"Before you explain," Hachiro interrupted loudly as he saw Kamiko begin to fume. He stood up and placed his hands around Hotaru's waist, carrying her away from the redhead. "You, sit over there; you, stay where you are. I'll sit riiight here." He plopped himself in between the two girls that still burned through each other's beings with their glares.

"Thank you, Hachiro. From here on out, you're responsible of these two. Make sure that they don't kill one another if I'm ever not present." Said Ryota, chewing on his toothpick.

 _I didn't ask for that..._ Hachiro groaned, throwing his head back and closing his eyes at the glare of the sun.

"Nevertheless, Hotaru, from what Kamiko was disclosing..." Ryota elaborated. "Since you're in a team of older genin, who, in spite of themselves are truly further advanced than genin level, you're going to be enduring tougher training sessions and tougher missions. That also translates to little-to-no D-rank assignments."

"Really?" Hotaru's brown eyes broadened with excitement.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable to her very clear demonstration of emotion, Ryota nodded. "Yes, really—"

"Awesome!" She exclaimed, punching her fist into her left palm.

The teacher forced a smile to his face. "Good to see you're in high spirits of that fact." He said, not knowing whether he meant it or not.

"It's great, Ryota-sensei! This means I'll be able to train much harder than I already do, which also means my strength would escalate quicker! _Yoshaaa_!" Hotaru's fist launched to the air above her. _If I keep up this pace, I might even master the Hiden by the chūnin exams!_

"Allow me to finish," Ryota stated, observing her excitement. "Hotaru, as your associates are older than you, we'll frequently be training alongside another team."

"Wait, what?" Kamiko questioned.

Patience wearing thin at the constant interruptions, Ryota removed the toothpick from his lips and rubbed his face. "No, I was not aware of that. It should have been comprehensible by default; you should have known since you're paired up with a fresh genin. Hachiro seems to have no reaction to what you refer to as 'news'.

"From the data that I've collected, your team is most compatible with Baki-san's team," Ryota informed. "Thus leading to the conclusion of having your team train with them, more or less."

"The _sand siblings_?" Kamiko asked with utter disgust. "Are you _sure_ that they're the only team 'compatible' to ours?"

"I understand why you wouldn't find that idea appealing, Kamiko, but regrettably, regardless of how hazardous it may be, they _are_ the only team available that is compatible with your strengths, taking into consideration your skills, age and knowledge. Hachiro and you can fight against the two eldest siblings in Baki-san's team."

"What about me?" asked Hotaru. "Am I going to be fighting Gaara-kun?"

Ryota hesitated for a moment before answering her question. "No. It's too risky to fight him; moreover, he doesn't train as much as his siblings do."

"But…if I can't fight Gaara-kun...then who am I supposed to be training with?" _other than Temari, whom I've been sparring with for the past year and then some._

The partnership program that Ryota laid out for her made little to no sense, aggravating her slightly.

"This isn't easy for me to say," Ryota stammered, thinking back to what _his_ superior told him. "The truth is that yes; you are _supposed_ to be fighting Gaara. But this comes with a warning, Hotaru," his voice went deep, along with the creases that were visible on his face.

"One wrong attempt and…Gaara could ultimately slaughter you."

"If that's the case, shouldn't I be able to train with his older siblings too?" Hotaru shook her head, not sure where this conversation was going. _Can I fight Gaara? Can I not? Should I fight him? Am I even allowed to do anything in this dipstick program?_

"You can fight with whoever you wanna fight with," Hachiro answered, seeing his teacher's tongue tie within his thoughts. "Just make sure you don't get yourself killed when you're fighting Gaara-kun, that's it. Right, Ryo-sensei?"

The man nodded, running his hand through his short hair. _How's he not chūnin yet?_ He studied the boy through his pitch black glasses, seeing the bored expression on his face. _Right, that's why._

"Without further ado," Ryota continued, sighing with relief. "Tell me a little bit about yourselves; your strong points, your weaknesses, your hobbies and such. This way, we can understand on what exactly we need to focus our training on, even with the sand siblings." He knew that this sort of method is flawed, but, as his mother had always said, _'communication is key. Use your words, not only your actions.'_

"OH!" Hotaru threw her hand up to the air, as if wanting to answer a question in a classroom. Ryota raised an eyebrow before nodding at her. "Can you give us an example, Ryota-sensei?"

He sighed, rolling his unseen eyes. "Example…" he didn't want to give himself as a sample; therefore he simply decided to use them as one. "For instance, you, Hotaru, are weak at ninjutsu but fairly talented in genjutsu and taijutsu – if that were the case, we would focus more on your ninjutsu skills. Hachiro needs work on his chakra nature manipulation, but he's already talented in ninjutsu itself, so we'll tackle the method in changing chakra nature. Understand?"

The smile never left Hotaru's features as she watched her new teacher explain things. Everything was fascinating, through her eyes. "Yes, sensei!"


	4. 2 - Info Dump

_"That's the little story of the girl you know,_

 _Relying on the kindness of strangers."_

* * *

"So, Hachiro, why don't you begin?" asked Ryota.

 _Isn't it supposed to go from the youngest to the eldest?_ Hachiro sighed, bringing his form forward and looking at his reflection in his teacher's glasses.

"I guess my strong points are ninjutsu and taijutsu." The silver-eyed boy said, thinking of a friend. "My specialties are Summoning Techniques, Sealing Techniques and chakra manipulation. I—"

"How long have you been a genin?" Ryota questioned boldly, faintly offending Hachiro's pride. The eldest genin cleared his throat.

"Four years."

"Why didn't you pass the chūnin exams, or if you are as talented as you state, why haven't the elders or Kazekage-sama take notice of your abilities?"

Hachiro shrugged, not showing that the questions bothered him. "I don't know,"— he did—"but I've gone on several upper ranked missions despite being 'genin', so there's nothing you need to worry about, Ryo-sensei."

Without a doubt, this pushed Ryota's pessimistic thoughts even further. If what Hachiro was saying is true, why is he still in such a rank?

As if noticing these thoughts in Ryota, Hachiro continued to speak. "I have nothing I want to achieve. I don't want to be a _great_ shinobi. I simply want to protect those that matter to me the most." A fleeting memory raked his mind as he glanced to Hotaru and Kamiko; after all, goals were not born out of pure boredom.

Tension grew thick between the four and Hotaru decided to cut through it by raising her hand and exclaiming a series of _oh_ 's, hoping that Ryota would choose her next.

Ryota, however, was somewhat agitated by Hachiro's passive behavior. He had never met someone as lazy or as uninterested as this silver-eyed boy, and what bothered him the most, was the fact that he was drenched in great potential.

But, based on Hachiro's words, another questioned seeped out of his lips. "If you were to go on a mission where you had to leave a comrade behind, what would you do?"

Taking this to a somewhat personal level, Hachiro grunted, straightening his posture. "The mission comes first."

His answer put Ryota marginally at ease as he raised his eyebrows for a split-second. Deciding to move from the look of impatience on Hachiro's features, he ignored Hotaru and nodded to the redhead, Kamiko.

"Go ahead, Kamiko."

Kamiko smiled as she straightened her posture with confidence, also hoping that the atmosphere would lighten up a little bit. "I'm Hirayama Kamiko and my strong points are genjutsu and ninjutsu, but my genjutsu skills need a bit more practice. I specialize in poisons, tranquilizers and antidotes to contradict the effects of the poisons I make."

"How long have you been a genin?" Ryota asked once more.

Shifting slightly beneath her weight, Kamiko bit the insides of her cheek. "Um, two years, Ryota-sensei."

"And why aren't you a chūnin yet?"

She looked down, to her pink colored nails. "Things were rough, for the past two years…"

"Her stupidity happened." Hotaru derided as she unfolded her legs and leaned back on her palms, earning a glare from each member.

"Don't even go there, fathead," Kamiko said, beginning to rant. Ryota and Hachiro sighed as the two girls began their verbal war. Who knew there would be so many ways to call someone an 'idiot'?

"Stop," Ryota commanded, smacking his cheeks with his right hand. "Just continue, if you don't mind."

"Sorry." both girls said, hanging their heads low in shame Kamiko ground her teeth together before sighing heavily.

"I graduated as genin two years ago and was placed on Hachiro, Nirako-chan and Arata-sensei's team." She explained. "I knew Hachiro because he visited Nirako-chan a lot when she was still at the academy; he was already a genin back then, and Nirako-chan and I were friends. But on the first try, I failed and when the second one came around…things got rough and I failed again. That's why I'm not a chūnin yet."

"Stuupidityy…" Hotaru sang beneath her breath.

"You do realize that this means you, along with Hachiro, are going to have to train a lot harder and learn a lot more things than you did back then, right?" Ryota asked. "Hachiro's quite intelligent and you're average, Kamiko, judging and comparing both of your grades, therefore, it should've been an easy task to pass. But since you two didn't, then you're given another chance, and thankfully, now that _I'm_ your sensei, _none_ of you will fail this year. Is that understood?"

Kamiko let out a little moan of guilt while Hachiro exhaled; they both nodded, but that wasn't enough to convince Ryota.

"Look at me and tell me you understood. I will not have failures as students."

They looked up at him, Kamiko a lot more reluctant than Hachiro, and nodded once more. "Understood, Ryota-sensei."

The man behind the glasses returned their movement, and then looked to Hotaru. "Your turn."

She smiled as she spoke, not affected by the heaviness in the ambiance. "My name is Hotaru—but Daisuke-sensei, Miko-chan and others from my grade often refer to me as 'Manarie'. I don't know where _that_ nickname came from, but it's there—"

"Because that's your _name_ , you fathead." Kamiko commented aggressively. _Seriously, don't even remember your own damn name?_

"My ninja ID would beg to differ, dipstick." Hotaru replied, even though she knew that somewhere in the back of her head, she heard the voices calling her the same thing.

Ryota urged to move on from the topic before the uproar could begin again. _It's hell working with these two._ "Go on, Hotaru."

Without giving it another thought, she rolled her eyes and exhaled. "I started chakra training when I was really young and because of that, I learned ninjutsu basics early; I don't remember much, but I remember that my mother rushed me into it before putting me into the academy and until I see her again, I won't really know why, other than the fact that she wanted me to learn a specific technique. So, I'm basically very good at ninjutsu. My specialties are mostly far-ranged offence, since I fight with my bow and arrow. My taijutsu and genjutsu skills…not so much."

Ryota was about to interrupt, but Hotaru continued to speak, not giving him way.

"I met an older girl who helped me train along with Hachiro-nii in remembering the techniques I was apparently working on," a small smile brushed across her face as she thought of Temari. "It was tough getting along with her at first, but I was determined to learn from her and to have her teach me more of what I can and can't do."

"Did you know she even has the knack to perform medical ninjutsu?" Hachiro said proudly, as if speaking of his child.

Ryota fought back a faint smile, seeing the benefit of this stated fact. _It would be insufficient to have a team where none knew a thing about medical ninjutsu; we're in luck._ "And congratulations in graduation as genin, Hotaru, but why have you graduated at such a late age?" _Two years after the regular graduating age; Kamiko's age._

She tugged on the edges of her top as she felt their eyes on her. "I, um…"

"It's OK, we're not judging you," Hachiro said quietly, nudging her on the shoulder.

She smiled apologetically as she stuttered to continue, speaking quickly. "Um, I don't remember, Ryota-sensei."

"You don't remember?" he asked.

Adjusting her sitting position and leaning forward, Hotaru cast her gaze to her fingers and shook her head. "…No, I don't, Ryota-sensei."

"She has ' _amnesia'_." Kamiko stated in a ridiculous manner, as if she were saying something that wasn't true. Hotaru shut her eyes and her cheeks went pink, praying that the ground would swallow her as she hung her head low.

 _Will Ryota-sensei take it the same way Miko-chan does, and think it's simply an excuse for me? Or will he really give a crap about it, the way Chiro-nii does…?_

"How bad is it?" the older man asked, placing his fingers to his beard. "Explain to me."

"I don't know, Ryota-sensei."

His eyes broadened faintly. "You don't _know?_ "

She shook her head, continuing to answer but Hachiro beat her to the punch.

"She has an appointment coming up and until then, we don't exactly know if there's been progress in her mental state or not." _The results from two years ago will probably amount to nothing right now,_ Hachiro thought.

Ryota paused for a split-second before nodding. "I value your honesty, and keep me updated regarding her state. You're all extraordinarily diverse yet you work well together, despite the outbursts of ignorant name-calling and futile fighting."

Hachiro nudged Hotaru once more, making her look up at him. His grey eyes revealed friendliness as his cheeks pulled up into a soft smile.

Kamiko interrupted the small interaction with a loud groan. "You talk _so much,_ for a kid genin _._ And I thought _I_ was bad..."

"Let's get going," Ryota breathed out and stood before Hotaru could reply. His students soon followed suit. "We've got multiple training sessions before we can start missions."

In the distance, Hotaru spotted four silhouettes, jumping on top of rooftops and heading in the direction of the training grounds.

"With _them_?" Kamiko spat, watching the other team race ahead of her own.

"Yes." Ryota answered, jumping to their direction.

The other sensei, Baki, looked back at the advancing team. A smile reached his lips while amusement filled his features. _This will be interesting._

Hotaru smiled widely as the ropes of nervousness untangled from around her being, noticing her best friend look back and smile in return.

 _That Temari,_ she thought as she jumped forward, meeting Kankurō's faint glare and the narrowed eyes of Gaara.

 _This_ will _be interesting._


	5. 3 - The Sand Siblings

_"I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me."_

* * *

"Baki-san," Ryota spoke to the taller man in front of him.

Most of Baki's head was wrapped in a white sash, a part of which hung loosely over the left side of his face. Two red slashes were painted along his right cheek under his eye, giving a splash of color against his brunet skin.

"Ryota-san," Baki greeted, smiling as he crossed his arms. "How's being a teacher working out for you?"

"Tough, to be frank," he leaned closer to Baki, whispering out loud. "The girls on my team won't stop bickering; it's driving out my sanity."

"I know what that's like." Baki agreed as he closed his eyes, nodding. _I'm teaching siblings._

"We're right here, you know…" Hotaru said to the two teachers.

"No matter," Ryota cleared his throat and immediately turned to his team. "Introduce yourselves."

Both teams introduced themselves to each other and then bowed concurrently.

 _Not that we needed to,_ Hotaru thought as she stood up straight. _Everyone knows who the sand siblings are._

"Baki-sensei how is this team compatible to our own again?" Kankurō asked, dragging his words out in a drone. "They're much weaker than we are and _she_ ," he pointed to Hotaru. "She wouldn't hurt a fly, even if her life depended on it-jaan."

His older sister pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. _You'd be surprised, little brother._

"What makes you think we're weaker than you?" Kamiko scowled, stepping forward.

"First of all, that kimono you're wearing won't help while we go on missions-jaan." Without hesitation, Kankurō sent a foot to feet.

Kamiko landed with her butt to the floor, knocking the air out of her momentarily.

"If you had been wearing something more appropriate for a kunoichi, you could've caught your balance and landed on your _feet_ rather than your _ass_ ," he chuckled wickedly. "Observe-jaan."

He turned around in one swift motion and kicked at Temari's feet, resulting in her tripping backwards slightly but steadying herself the next second.

"Kankurō!" she shouted.

"See?"

Temari had then smacked him on the head, earning a truthful "Ouch!" from the boy.

"Impressive," Hachiro hummed, bringing about their attention. "Why don't we focus less on what she's wearing though, and more on the strategy itself?"

He stepped forward slowly, emitting a dangerous vibe whilst picking his teammate up to her feet. She stepped back and stood with Hotaru, watching the two boys challenge each other.

" _Observe_ ," he mocked as he circled Kankurō like a hawk, immediately imitating the other genin's kick to the feet.

Kankurō successfully dodged in a hop. "Ha!" he scoffed, grinning.

A sudden kick to his back made Kankurō's knees buckle while a shot of pain from his neck slapped the smile off his face. In an instant, the proud boy was knocked from both sides and his back once more, having another kick to his feet send him to the ground.

"You let your guard down," Hachiro provoked. "See?" he stepped over Kankurō, placing all his body weight onto his leg as he leaned downward. His eyes went up to Temari's, sending her an unintentional wink. She smiled, blushing faintly. _Cute._

Gaara scoffed. _What an embarrassment._

"Like I said; it's not about how you dress," he continued, stepping off the younger boy. "It's about the strategy and how aware you are of your surroundings." A grunt emitted from his chest as he stretched his hand out to Kankurō, pulling him up off the ground.

"You see, Kankurō? You might actually learn something here." Baki said, smirking slightly.

"Impressive; but he might be the only one _I_ could fight with-jaan." Kankurō concluded, placing his hand on his chin as he studied Hachiro.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" asked Hotaru, stepping forward as she pushed Hachiro to the side and met the gaze of Kankurō's neck. She had to lift her head slightly in order to meet his eyes.

"It means: fighting with you or her would be pointless, kiddo-jaan," Kankurō teased as he leaned in, flicking Hotaru on the nose.

Her head jerked in irritation, a soft growl escaping her insides while her cheeks went hot with blood. "Oh, you think so?" she challenged, stepping close enough to feel his breath on her face.

"No, I _know-_ " abruptly, he was sent backwards a couple of squares, falling to the ground as he clutched at his abdomen.

"Hotaru," Ryota snarled.

" _What_?! He thinks I'm weak!" she replied in a childish manner. "I don't like it when dipsticks like him underestimate me because I'm small!" her insides burned at the opinion.

"Unless he's an enemy, you don't attack when his guard is lowered." Ryota continued.

She stared at him in disbelief with wide eyes, not knowing whether she should run the other way with angry crocodile tears burning through her cheeks or punch him the way she punched Kankurō. "Hachiro-nii did _just that!"_

" _Ouch_." Hachiro huffed sarcastically, knowing that she was right.

Ryota simply shook his head in disapproval, causing Hotaru to growl in frustration as she stomped her way to the middle sand sibling.

"On the contrary, Ryota-san," Baki said as he watched Hotaru. "I believe that training with the intent to kill is the right way to raise a strong shinobi or kunoichi."

But Hotaru was already too far to hear his words, let alone embrace him for the praise.

"She's still a kid." Ryota replied.

"The younger they start the better, and if I recall correctly, she's fourteen – Kankurō's age. You are too soft on your students."

Ryota snarled under his breath and looked away, crossing his arms. _This is only the beginning, Baki-san. They've seen none of my methods._

"To have a strong team is to train them in a way that prepares them for war. Isn't that the reason to why we chose to become shinobi, Ryota-san?" Baki continued, making sense to the other man yet irritating him for being a know-it-all.

"If I recall correctly, I believe it was my own team that completed a mission your team couldn't, all those years ago." Ryota cleared his throat.

" _Years ago_ ," Baki emphasized. "You've gotten soft over the years, after the war."

"On the contrary," after all, Baki didn't know what Ryota had gone through; he didn't know why Ryota was the way he was. "We haven't begun training yet."

Baki scoffed, shutting his eyes once more. Ryota's eldest student took this as an insult, and began to speak. "On the contrary indeed, Baki-san; I've seen Ryota-sensei train as a chūnin, and…"

 _That fathead,_ Kamiko thought as she watched her teammate zigzag over to Kankurō. _We'll probably end up failing as kunoichi because of her dumb, uncontrollable outbursts._

Temari hid a smile behind her hand, shaking her head. _Hotaru, someday, your emotions will lead to your downfall if you keep acting on them so heavily._

 _She's obviously nothing more but a burden,_ Gaara thought as he turned to face the logs of the training grounds. _There is no compatibility between our teams. What was the Kazekage thinking?_

 _You should get rid of her,_ a voice in Gaara's head muttered, letting its words drag out in a piercing laugh.

 _I would but..._ he looked over his shoulder at his superior and older sister. _There are consequences. They're always watching._

"Sorry," Hotaru spat, kneeling down to the boy. "I didn't mean to."

"Doesn't matter," Kankurō croaked as he slowly pushed himself off the ground, his abdomen burning slightly from where she hit him. "I don't like it when people underestimate me either-jaan."

Tongue clicking in impatience, she pushed him back to the floor. "Don't move. I punched you with some chakra in my fist, so it might be a bigger injury than it feels or looks like." _Doubtful, though. We both know I'm nowhere near stronger than you._

"Didn't feel like it-jaan." he fibbed, reluctantly resting his head on the floor again. He experienced little-to-no-pain, but knew how it felt, feeling small in front of another ninja, therefore he let her do her thing.

"If you waited a couple more minutes, you would have felt it." she insisted flatly, her hands beginning to glow a faint green.

"Medical-ninjutsu, huh?" placing his arms under his head, he smiled crookedly at her as he watched her put her hands above his guts. "Not bad, for a kid."

"I have excellent chakra control," she said as she smirked in annoyance. "Well, not excellent, but great. And I'm not a kid, dipstick."

Inching his head backwards momentarily, he arched an eyebrow at her reactions. She seemed to be lost in between two people as her expression changed from modesty to pride in seconds.

"You _are_ technically younger than me-jaan." He declared, relaxing himself once more. _You also_ just _graduated kiddo._

"Yeah, by a couple of months." her eyes rolled as she shook her head.

"Ah? When's your birthday?"

Shifting her weight above her legs, Hotaru suddenly felt uncomfortable as the frustration dissolved into her veins.

"None of your business," she stated rather curtly as she looked away. "You've been to them both anyway, so why are you asking?"

"Because I don't remember going to any of them." He half-smiled. "Did I get you a gift-jaan?"

She shook her head, looking at him once more. "I don't remember, but Temari brought you with her when she came over to celebrate. It was only us five. From all the presents I received, it was hard to keep count." Sarcasm leaked out of her lips as she spoke, making Kankurō chuckle lightly.

Removing her hands that hovered above his abdomen, he sat upright after he had felt the faint burn disappear. "You're not as weak as I thought you were-jaan," standing up, he extended his arm toward her and pulled her up. "You've got skill."

Hotaru blushed slightly at the remark, not used to hearing compliments from strangers. It had always been Hachiro, and Temari only gave her a swift nod if she ever showed improvement. For the years that she had known Kankurō, their conversations mostly consisted of swift greetings and farewells, along with a few lame jokes here and there. "Thanks."

"Don't worry Hotaru," walking forward, Kankurō continued to speak, gesturing with his posture for her to follow. "I won't go easy on you when we fight-jaan."

A wide smile clawed its way up her cheeks as she sprinted to his side. "Oh, you're _so_ on!"


	6. 4 - Hotaru Likes Gaara

_"Confusion's all I see; frustration surrounds me."_

* * *

"Team seven, take ten." Ryota declared with his arms crossed as he watched his team breathe heavily, training for an hour and a half with Baki's team.

The sun had begun to set gradually, bringing along winds of change to the training grounds as its fingers scraped the sky in fiery orange strokes.

Hotaru exhaled in exaggeration, falling headfirst to the ground while Kamiko soon followed and fell backwards, her head landing on Hotaru's soft-enough behind.

"Ryota-sensei..." Hotaru breathed, voice muffled by the surface of where she lay. "Don't you think...we've had...enough training...at the academy?"

Kankurō fell to the floor while Temari fell on top of him as their youngest brother stood where the superiors stood; he had mostly been observing both teams and occasionally stepped in for a missing hit or two, but Hotaru demonstrated a few body-transformation techniques that caught his attention.

"It's different this time, Hotaru. Were you put to train against other teams at the academy?"

"Well, no..."

"Which is why you're doing it right now; it was only after your graduation that teams were considered for compatibility. You are not the only team paired with another for vigorous training sessions; everyone else was too. It is likely that Kazekage-sama thought of this due to the upcoming chūnin exams—to toughen up the early shinobi of Suna."

"...I suppose that...makes sense..." she closed her eyes. _But the chūnin exams are two whole months away!_

Standing ever so casually, Hachiro leaned on one of the wooden upright logs at the center of the training grounds; his arms folded on top of it. "I can't believe you're tired already. What happened to that epic chakra control, Aru-chan?"

"Not...now," Hotaru panted in response, unable to get her thoughts together as she dug her head into the dirt of the ground.

 _Unsightly,_ Gaara thought, condescendingly looking at Hotaru struggling to move. _She truly is nothing more than a burden._

"Get...off me," the brunette squirmed under the weight of Kamiko's head, annoyed by the mass on her sticky body. When the other girl didn't move, Hotaru groaned and rolled away, letting her teammate's head fall to the ground.

"Mana...rie!" the girl with green eyes shouted, bringing her palms up to wipe her sweaty face.

Hotaru closed her eyes in response to the mention of what felt like a secret name. Then, standing up slowly and trudging over to her teacher, she managed to choke out a few words. "Ryo…ta-sensei, can I get some water?"

"When I said ten, I meant ten seconds," Ryota replied, bringing his folded arms out and placing his hands on his hips. "That's clearly a no."

"But I'm...so tired and...so thirsty!" Hotaru pleaded, blinking rapidly at her senior.

"So are they," he nodded to the rest of her teammates.

"...But they're not..." she trailed off, seeing the frown on Ryota's face.

"Ryo-sensei, she _needs_ to drink water," Hachiro defended. "If she doesn't, her body might dehydrate and then she won't be able to train properly."

After seconds of contemplation, Ryota sighed, giving in to the look of plead in her eyes and the fact that Hachiro stated. "Don't be long."

Looking up to the sky, Hotaru grinned as she struggled to stand upright on her shaking legs. She looked to the left and mouthed a 'thank you' to Hachiro, who nodded back at her.

Still panting slightly, she began to walk, passing by the two teachers but stopping where Gaara stood, his presence distracting her.

"On your feet! You've exceeded ten seconds!" Ryota shouted to his team, one of them lazily leaning against a pillar of wood while the other was sprawled across the floor in a starfish pose.

"You heard the man!" Baki agreed, shouting at his team as well.

"Do I...know you?" Hotaru asked Gaara softly.

Gaara's unpleasant mint-green eyes met her big brown ones. She stood somewhat taller than him in a couple centimeters. "I don't recall ever coming across you before the academy."

A crease formed between her furrowed eyebrows. "Are you sure...about that?"

"What are you proposing?" he answered, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Nothing!" she replied nervously, shaking her head as she forced out a snicker. "It's just that...I feel like I know you – that I've met you before the academy."

The two girls on the training grounds caught sight of what was going on to their sides, momentarily diverting them from the fight. They thought of the same thing at the scene. _Hotaru, what are you doing?_

An image came across Gaara's eyes as he studied her features, raking through his memories for her face. It fogged away as his concentration focused on the girl in front of him. "You might have me mistaken for someone else."

Hotaru shook her head, half-smiling. "No...I'm pretty sure it's you. I don't think I'd be able to forget a presence like yours."

His eyes broadened faintly at her words, surprised by her nonchalant responses. Even the smile that slowly creased her cheek took him aback.

Jerking her head again, she stuttered her way through the next sentence. "Anyway, uh...would you like to come with me? I'm going to um, fill my canisters with more water." She swayed her form as she waited for him to respond. _I mean, it's a yes or no question. How much time would you need to think about that? Unless I'm asking you to like, undress or something._

The reason he took a moment was because his mind was cramming up with thoughts and ideas of _why_ she would be asking him to join her. He uttered out his question, and she responded with a simple: "I just...don't like going alone."

But still, it made no sense to him. She could've simply asked Ryota or Baki. _Is it some sort of method she trying to eliminate me? ...No, she's a burden. She's not strong enough to lay a hand on me. So, what would this thing want with me?_

"If you don't want to come, its fine!" she forced a smile as she looked away, heart slowly sinking. _I think I recognize this feeling. I'll be damned; this dipstick's actually getting to me._

Without another word she started to walk away, meeting his eyes one last time.

The thought lingered and his limbs automatically moved him with her, as if she had tied chakra strings around his ankles. _What am I doing?_ He asked himself as he watched her tie her clammy, sandy hair. _Why am I following that_ thing _? Moreover, why did she even ask me to?_

 _Following her may be a good opportunity to have that question answered,_ the voice in his head cooed. _Her motives will become clear to you._

She stopped walking as she felt someone behind her. He halted when she did, his eyes widening when she turned around. For reasons he knew all too well, he expected to see her eyes fly wide open in terror. But to his surprise, her reaction contradicted his thoughts immensely.

"You could've just said you're coming." she smiled as her chest tightened; feeling faint prickly legs of creepy crawlies tickle the inside of her stomach. She forced herself to walk to him when he didn't continue walking.

Thoughts bombarded Gaara's mind as she advanced in what seemed like slow motion. There was nothing special about her; not her ninja abilities nor the amount of chakra inside her, but something...something didn't feel entirely right – was she truly a thread to Gaara's existence? No. She was quite the opposite, in fact - nothing more but a liability.

 _Is it her?_ His words echoed in the void of his mind.

 _My esteemed self wouldn't know,_ the voice of the one-tailed beast answered. _I don't keep track of my meals._

 _It...it almost feels like the thrill that takes over me when I steal the life out of someone,_ he thought, to himself mostly, examining the sensation like a patient on a surgery table. _It...it almost feels like...more._

 _More than the craving of blood?_ The beast, Shukaku, laughed aloud sinisterly. _I doubt it._

 _Mother...can you feel it?_ Gaara asked.

 _My esteemed self is inside you,_ Shukaku retorted rather condescendingly. _I feel all that you do._

 _Isn't it stronger?_

It abruptly went silent in his head as he continued to dissect the emotion, outwardly frowning when Shukaku didn't respond.

"Come on," Hotaru said as she approached him, unable to control the slight shiver in her voice from how hard her heart was beating. "I won't bite." She joked, mentally punching herself in the face for the lame phrase.

Gaara frowned as she turned. Was she expecting him to follow? _Her motives…?_

Whether she was or not wasn't important, because Gaara seemed to follow anyway. _Find out her motives. But…what's this feeling? A threat? Genjutsu?_

 _My esteemed self would be aware if it were any sort of genjutsu,_ Shukaku answered.

 _Then...what is this feeling?_


	7. 5 - Gaara's Confusion

_"My nature is doubtful."_

* * *

After Hotaru filled her bottle of water, Gaara had immediately suggested going back to the training grounds. Being around the brunette made him somewhat uneasy - the fact that she was _nice_ to him let his mind wander all probabilities she could be hiding up her sleeve. The motive where she had absolutely none scared him the most – but that was only what he had seen so far.

There's also the possibility that she could be _that girl,_ from _that night._ Then and only then, would her motives be crystal clear to him.

"I just want to get some, um, those...frozen ice things." she didn't know why she stammered as much as she did, deciding that it was the aura around Gaara that caused it. Or maybe it was the fact that he felt so memorable — she was torn between the two options.

The stares that she received from the civilians around her also made her head pound with unease. _Should I be avoiding him like the rest of them? That's so hard to do; despite the stories and red flags. He seemed so..._ she looked to the right, seeing him walk with his head hanging low and his arms crossed. _Unbelievably alone, and so comfortably familiar._

Striding to a booth on the left where an elderly man stood shouting, a smile spread on her face as she moved swiftly, not wanting to waste any more of her training time.

"One popsicle?" she asked, pulling a few coins out from where she stuck her water bottle.

The man smiled widely in return before his eyes shifted to the left, instantly replacing the grin with a look of fear. A shiver steadily shook his limbs as he struggled to reply. "A-ah, y-yes. F-fl-avor, miss?"

She turned to the right, seeing Gaara stare at the man intently. The unease within her swelled, making her sweat even more.

After addressing her order curtly, she looked to Gaara once more and apologized on behalf of the old man. He only judged her through a frown, turning away.

"Is _it_ causing you any trouble?" the older man asked Hotaru as he leaned in, whispering. "Do you need help?"

Gulping, she shook her head slowly with a glower, taking the treat out of the man's trembling fingers. "I'm fine. And he's a boy, not an animal."

"Are you sure? We're here to help."

" _No_ , I'm fine," she insisted, dropping the coins on the wooden booth and walking away. "The nerve of some people..."

She removed the ice pop from its wrapping as they walked back to the training grounds. Two sticks stuck out from the bottom, and she pulled on them, severing it in half. "Here you go."

Waving the treat in front of the redhead caused him to stop walking and only stare, watching it eat itself gradually under the heat.

"If you don't take it, it'll melt." Hotaru said, jerking it from side to side.

"I can't fathom why you're being this way with me." said Gaara, hesitantly reaching for the icicle.

"What way?" she asked as she absently started walking again, feeling Gaara follow slowly.

He stared at the ice cream, wondering if it were laced with poison. "Your eyes are relaxed, yet your posture bares your fearful nerves. But you smile at me, densely, to say the least."

A frown appeared on her face at his insult. "Sorry for being like this, then. Would you rather have me look at you the way _they_ do?" she pointed to the coiling civilians and the mothers pulling their children away down the path, avoiding even the slightest presence of the boy.

A moment of silence hung above the two as they continued to walk, reaching a narrow, empty path.

Staring at the frozen object that trickled down his fingers, Gaara refused to answer the aggression in the question she asked earlier. "I simply don't comprehend it."

Hotaru sighed. His queries made her wonder what kind of childhood he had; she did know from what Temari tentatively revealed, but strictly receiving information from a third-party viewer made it a-hundred-and-ten-percent different.

"There isn't much to comprehend," said Hotaru. "You're a person, I'm a person. Um, our teams work well together, which gives me more reason to treat you the way I would treat a comrade."

Gaara's frown deepened. "Comrade?"

"Well...um, yeah. Ryota-sensei mentioned that we'll be training with each other a lot since our teams, I don't know, go well together or whatever. He said that Kankurō-kun and Temari will be training with Kamiko-chan and Hachiro-nii, mostly, which leaves me to you."

A chuckle echoed in Gaara's head.

"I mean," Hotaru continued. "He _did_ say it would be dangerous, but as a kunoichi, I think I need to be faced with dangerous situations—"

"I'm a jinchūriki," Gaara declared, throwing the popsicle away. "It's _beyond_ dangerous. I'm a monster and if I find you a threat to my existence, I _will_ kill you."

The fear that plastered on everyone's faces rippled throughout her body, but she wouldn't dare show him what her subconscious mind was trying to convince her. Consciously, however, it confused her; she still couldn't bring herself to terms with the precise sensation of terror in the face of death, or the sensation of such utter dread that would make her cower underneath another human being's presence.

"You're a boy," she said firmly, clenching her fists as she tried to stop her hands from shaking, but the quaking ice-lolli gave her away. "How can _I_ be a threat to you?"

He looked at her, wondering whether she was acting so nicely because of fear or if it came out of her genuinely. The thought of bribing him with the popsicle picked at his nerves as he sent her a glare.

"Stop being nice to me," he commanded harshly. "It only angers me more. I receive enough of that at home because I'm a dangerous tool that needs to be treated with care. I'm going to tell you only once; don't treat me that way. I would rather have you treat me as the monster that I am than that of a higher spirit you feel the need to please." _Deceitful acts of fright, disguised in admiration. I'm sick of it._

She spat out the remaining block of crimson ice in her mouth and threw the stick to the side, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

"I'm not doing _any_ of those things, all right?" a profound and uncomfortable weight rested on her shoulders as his words replayed in her head. "I like you, and I like being around you! Why's that a crime?" her voice escalated slowly, unintentionally.

"I don't appreciate liars," he said sternly. "Especially those who feign a foreign emotion I've never known."

"I'm not _feigning_ anything, okay?" Hotaru growled, stopping his advancement as she stood in front of him. "And I don't like being accused of something...that I would never do!"

In one swift motion of shock, Gaara found her in the tight clutches of his sand.

"What are you trying to do?" he demanded.

"It's called a hug," she hung her head low, releasing herself from the sand with her full-body technique. "People do it to cheer each other up, you know?" _Pull yourself together, dipstick._ She shouted to herself in her head. _It's your first time_ actually _spending time with him and it goes down_ this _intensely…seriously?_

She brought her hands to her face as she poked threatening tears out of her eyes, angry at herself for reacting so ridiculously. Bending over her knees, she apologized for her actions, not exactly knowing why but feeling the need to. "I don't know what...came over me. I'm sorry."

Gaara's sand lingered around her momentarily, swirling along her limbs and wrapping around her waist. She reached her hand out to marvel its particles, whiffing in its odd metallic scent.

"Are you doing this?" she asked him as she stood upright, her eyes following the movement of the sand. Its smell was strangely familiar along with its wielder, but she couldn't pinpoint on what exactly it smelled like. _It's either rust or...or..._

And Gaara watched her watch the sand, frowning at the reaction he received. Before he could speak, she beat him to the punch.

"It's amazing." She hummed, entangling her fingers along the levitating gravel.

 _We have a winner;_ Shukaku guffawed while he shared the same shock his host did.

 _What is she doing?_ Gaara asked.

 _I can't tell; she causes my esteemed self-such confusion! You_ must _have her! It seems as though she's playing – the little runt!_

 _She's meant to be afraid…!_

Shukaku laughed once more. _Amuse yourself. Ask her why she isn't._

"Why aren't you afraid?" he obeyed, stepping closer to the taller girl.

"I don't see a reason to be," she said. "It's beautiful, really; I wish I could manipulate an element like this." _Water, maybe? ...No, that would be impossible._

He shook his head as he walked to her, his sand pouring back into his gourd. "Why aren't you afraid?" Gaara demanded once more, wiping the smile off her face with his tone.

"I just told you, Gaara-kun." She rubbed her head, looking away from him. "I don't remember much. I don't remember if I had ever known you or if I was afraid of you, that's why I asked if I knew you. I don't know why everyone else is afraid of you, either. I mean, I don't know what you could have done to whip such fear into them, but it's hard for me to understand, or to feel the way they do.

"Maybe it's because I _feel_ like I know you that I'm not afraid, that I feel like...an attachment. Some sort of nostalgia, or something..."

 _Attachment? Nostalgia?_ He wondered, studying her features. She didn't look afraid, she barely seemed it. What angered him was how he couldn't tell whether she was deceiving him or not.

"And now that I've seen more," she said, her voice entwining with an upbeat tone. The smile she wore earlier on came back, tinting her face in a faint shade of pink. "I'm somehow a lot more...drawn to you."

Gaara shook his head in doubt, still frowning as he scrutinized her.

 _That's unmistakably a smile,_ Shukaku said, giggling at the sight through his host's eyes.

 _I don't follow,_ Gaara replied. _I don't know what to think, mother. She's not threatened by me. I don't understand her motive. Must I kill her?_ A drill of frustration went through his skull as he stared at her.

 _Yes,_ Shukaku sang. _Yes, yes, all the yeses in the world, my esteemed self would advise!_

 _When?_ Gaara wondered, the fact of her being from the same village coming into focus. Another fact was that she hadn't _done_ anything to him; so how could he possibly kill her? What was his excuse? _Because mother told me to do so_ was his best answer and after years of experience, he knew better than to present such an answer.

 _When the time comes, my esteemed self will let you know._ With that, his voice disappeared, followed by a loud, sinister laugh.

 _Yes, mother._ Besides the bloodlust, there was something else to how Gaara felt. It was foreign, it was strange; something he didn't recognize, not even the least bit.

He shook his head again and walked passed Hotaru, not removing his gaze off hers until she sprinted to his side.

And they walked together to the training grounds.


	8. 6 - Sand Coffin

_"Reach out a hand to the ends of my memory and quietly invite me to go where you are."_

* * *

The training session had ended, much to Hotaru's disappointment. But she requested to remain a little longer, seeing as she missed thirty minutes of her time. Baki agreed to her proposal and suggested in having her train with Gaara.

"It's almost sundown, so train as fast as you can…" Ryota instructed Hotaru, frowning at the red smudges on her face. "…Did you eat a popsicle?"

"I was tired! Water wasn't enough!" Hotaru defended. Her partner was already standing at the center of the field, waiting for her to join him.

"And an artificially flavored chunk of ice is?" asked Kamiko, wiping the sweat on her upper lip.

Hotaru rolled her eyes and jogged to where Gaara stood. The sight of the girl immediately grasped Hachiro's attention as he walked to where his teacher stood.

"Hey." he chimed, placing his hand around her wrist and turning her to face him.

"Chiro-nii, I don't have time," she said hastily, meeting his hooded grey eyes.

"Where you goin'?"

"To train," she continued. "With...um, with-with Gaara-kun. I lost thirty minutes of training, so I'm making up for it. Did you two learn anything new?"

"No, but Ryo-sensei made us focus on our chakra natures and how to use them more efficiently. I'm guessing that's what you're going to be doing as well."

"Oh..." she said, looking down "I was hoping I would practice more on the _Hiden_..."

"Tell you what, Aru-chan," Hachiro leaned close and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Once the training session's over, we can train some more and you can practice on your chakra maintenance." _Who in their right mind would even_ want _to train more?_

She smiled and hopped slightly, clapping her hands. "Thank you, Chiro-nii!"

Allowing a smile to his features, he lightly ran his fingertips down her face. "Be careful, got it?"

"Hachiro-nii, I'll be fine. I'll see you tonight, dipstick." She said, rolling her eyes.

He sighed as he watched her run away _._

Hotaru ran to Gaara, smiling weakly at his sight.

"We'll be inspecting from here," Ryota said out loud. "Run as fast as you can around this and the next training ground. Seven laps for a warm-up then come back. We will be the checkpoint."

"Considerate," Hotaru mumbled as she readied herself, soon shooting off with adrenaline from where Gaara stood.

* * *

The sun was barely holding on to a rope as it hovered ten feet above the ground; the sky flashed in violet, bringing about shadow strokes in civil twilight.

Hotaru was on her last lap, lingering somewhere on the other training ground as she dragged her feet along the floor. Her breathing was shallow and her heart was pressed against her ribcage, pounding violently while it struggled to send blood to her limbs.

"You're...almost...there!" she said to herself in means of motivation, yanking out her water bottle and drinking from it like she never drank before. Exhaling deeply, she wiped her face, jumping before she started to sprint again.

Hachiro and Kamiko both left as sun descended, leaving behind team Baki and their sensei, Ryota.

"Your student's quite slow," Baki said casually. "Are you sure she'll be able to train with Gaara?" He knew that Gaara might not be that fast, but his sand made up immensely for it.

"From what I've gathered, she's compatible with Temari and Kankurō at most. She can fight Gaara, but not defeat him. It might take her years to come close to putting him down, especially with her speed."

"That's impossible, in a couple years or more-jaan." Kankurō scoffed.

" _No_ _one_ can defeat Gaara." Temari agreed.

The boy they gossiped about waited tediously at the center of the field, watching through the desert trees as Hotaru came into view, panting.

"So...rry!" she tried to say aloud as she ran to the redhead, but it didn't reach the other's ears.

"Hotaru, you don't have much time left." Ryota called out, making her run faster.

"All right, Ryota-sensei!" she gasped, crouching low in front of Gaara.

"Ready?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, sand flew out of Gaara's gourd, menacingly, compared to the first time she saw it pour out. A gasp thrust through her lungs as she messily dodged the swift attack, not fast enough, resulting in a scrape of her cheek.

"Faster!" Temari dared to shout through cupped palms from Hotaru's left, immediately regretting her words. _Shit, no - that wasn't me!_

"I just...ran...for so long...!" Hotaru growled under her breath, straining her body to keep up with her mind. _Give me a damn break!_

She watched Gaara with wide eyes; he coldly stood with his hands crossed. _Isn't he going to move?_ She wondered as a wave of sand flew to her direction. She pushed herself off the ground with chakra in her legs, tumbling in the air and landing on the wave. _Whatever. Just avoid. Observe and avoid._ Running towards him, she circled his waves, small enough to fit through its big gaps.

"Faster!" Temari repeated beneath her breath, getting hushed by her sensei.

"Let her do it on her own." Baki said, as if speaking of his own student.

 _She's already exhausted,_ Temari thought in worry. _Who knows what could happen at this rate? What Gaara could do to her?_

"Are you just...gonna stand there?" Hotaru shouted whilst running, trying to land kicks and punches at him but failing to as more of his sand shielded him. She looked back at Gaara's sister with wide eyes, not understanding and not knowing what to do.

"Your natures, Hotaru." clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Ryota almost took off his glasses as he watched his student struggle to keep breathing.

 _Oh right,_ Hotaru thought, Hachiro's words coming back to her. _Chakra natures, chakra natures..._

As she pondered, distracted by her thoughts, Gaara soon had her ankles wrapped in his sand and threw her across the floor ahead of him.

She grunted as she shook up to her feet, swiftly gathering her thoughts and pulling out several kunai. Running again, she forced some of her chakra into her weapons and aimed them at the boy. A smile grazed her lips as she jerked the kunai toward him, but her hopes were crushed in a matter of seconds as the smile disappeared and the kunai repelled.

"Natures!" Hotaru heard Ryota repeat; only giving him half of her attention as she focused on the redhead ahead of her.

 _Close range attacks only, huh?_ She contemplated, staring him down. _Agh, my taijutsu is completely half-assed!_

"Is she even listening to you-jaan?" Kankurō muttered toward Hotaru's teacher, watching the fight closely.

Treading slowly to Gaara, Hotaru pulled out three more kunai.

 _She already knows that that's not going to work,_ Temari thought.

Hotaru started to form seals through a handful as she began running to him again, pouring more chakra onto her feet for speed. Swiftly dodging his sand attacks, she sprinted faster and said aloud; " _Mizu Kunai no jutsu!_ "

The kunai were soon coated with a hefty amount of water as she let go, having them sink deep into his wall of sand.

Temari's eyes widened along with Kankurō and Baki's.

 _It penetrated that deep into his shield?_ The blonde thought, not knowing whether to feel pride or terror.

 _That's impossible,_ Kankurō continued, sharing his sister's feelings.

However, Gaara only shrugged off the slight moment of a shudder, dismissing the uncomfortable sight of her weapons.

Without noticing her as his mind grew somewhat occupied with a couple more water-consumed kunai hitting his sand, Hotaru was soon near him with fists engulfed in liquid.

 _I might not be fast enough...but this will do..._ she thought as she sent her hand to his cheek, only for her arms to be hugged with his sand.

He glanced to his side and met her eyes, narrowing his own while a smirk played at the corners of his lips.

"So close..." Ryota sighed, wiping his face.

 _I beg to differ,_ Temari chuckled, applauding Hotaru's guts to actually even _try_ to attack her little brother.

Soon, Gaara whispered. " _Sabaku Kyū—_ "


	9. 7 - Temari

_"Today's like the morning after."_

* * *

The girl's brown eyes widened at the sudden stab of pain in her arms, but her body abruptly saved her from any further harm.

"Gaara!" Kankurō shouted out loud while he, his sister and his teacher followed a jogging Ryota. _Crap, he got carried away..._

They gasped at the sight of the girl on the floor that had no forearms, but appeared entirely bloodless. Frowning, team Baki surrounded her and studied her closely.

Gaara's eyes widened as he caught his breath, while his sister wiped at her eyes vigorously before a look of confusion wiped itself on her face. Kankurō stepped closer to Hotaru and bent down to his knees, examining her figure.

"...You...you're not bleeding?" Temari questioned, putting her emotions aside. "How?"

"Where are your arms-jaan?" Kankurō asked hastily.

Ryota shushed the two with a wave of his hand. Meeting Hotaru's eyes, he nodded at her, as if to ask if she were okay.

She nodded faintly. "I'll...I'll be all right. Just take me to the nearest, um...tub, or something. My arms barely...got out of that one." Her eyes went up to her opponent, who stared back at her in shock. "Good fight, Gaara-kun." _Too good, actually. Maybe I'll finally understand what people mean when they call him a monster. Is he_ that _difficult to defeat?_

The boy with red hair felt frustration laced in confusion, topped off with a cherry of anger. "No...Blood." he asked more than declared.

"It was a close call," Hotaru forced out a soft laugh, moaning as she flinched afterwards. "But I'm left in a state like this, so...it _really_ was a good fight." She didn't know what to say other than praise the boy she had just fought with; seeing the look of disappointment on his face made her heart twitch.

"No one could ever escape Gaara's sand coffin without a drop of blood drawn," Temari spoke in a serious tone, adding more tension to the atmosphere. "How could _you_ , Hotaru?" _A mere genin. She might be training her ass off and so on, but even Baki-sensei wouldn't be able to find a way to escape the coffin. No one can._

"Um, it's a matter of instant action with an instant reaction, I suppose..." Hotaru was confused as to how the ones around her were acting. _Would they react in a more natural way if I had actually lost my arms? Ridiculous..._

"How...?" Gaara breathed.

"A protean, whole-body technique but...it's not perfect yet. I still need to train harder on it..."

" _Excuse me?_ " asked Kankurō.

"…It's a _Hiden;_ a secret, family tradition or technique; I don't remember much of it, but...it's been taught to me by my parents. It's still not perfect, as you can see," Hotaru looked at her regenerating arms. "But...I'm getting there." _For my parents, if not for myself._

"That still doesn't explain how your arms are off you but your blood is intact," Temari continued, getting frustrated.

 _What's she acting out for?_ Hotaru furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at the blonde. "The jutsu is a flesh transformation ability, Temari...whether at my command or not, when my body is threatened, it transforms into liquid and dodges _any_ attack," explained Hotaru. "I need more training, though..." she muttered to herself, faintly feeling her arms again.

Self-doubt immediately dissolved into Gaara's skin as an interest in the girl hovered in his gut, making him look forward to fighting her again. He looked at Hotaru as her arms began to solidify, wondering whether he could hurt her or not due to the facts given by the technique.

 _There is no such thing as an invincible technique,_ Gaara thought, self-doubt creeping in on him once more. _...But how?_

Temari looked at Gaara and noticed a familiar expression spread on his features. _This is bad; he's beginning to destabilize. I need to warn Hotaru..._

The brunette looked to her teacher, bewildered and frustrated at her best friend's questions. Even though she knew that Temari wasn't the warmest person to be around, such questions were not ones she'd easily spew – she felt as though she might've been doing so for the sake of being around her brothers. But that was just a thought; an assumption.

"I believe my time is over?" she asked, forcing a smile to her face. "Right, Ryota-sensei?"

Ryota grunted. "Yes; we'll start a certain training program in the upcoming days for it to be more organized – but that's only for the beginning. Soon, you, Hachiro and Kamiko are going to train with them on a regular basis and hopefully, it'll take a much shorter amount of time."

She smiled before turning her attention to Gaara again. "We'll train more in the future, Gaara-kun."

"Indeed we will," he replied under his breath sternly, his blood curling from the excitement of tearing her limb from limb.

"Uh…Ryota-sensei? Is it OK if you…pick me up? I can walk; I just need…someone to pull me up." Hotaru's smile went from a genuine one to a forced on in seconds. If her arms were present, she'd surely be scratching her head at this moment.

Ryota hesitantly stood and sent a finger to his hair. "I believe it would be best for me to call Hachiro for this. After all, you are both neighbors."

His reply caused Hotaru to furrow her eyebrows and wipe off her smile. Baki sighed at his words, signaling the two of the older siblings on his team to aid in his emotional-dysfunctionality.

Without a second's thought, Temari and Kankurō knelt to Hotaru's side and pulled her up to her feet.

"Your jutsu is disgusting." Temari grimaced.

"I'll make sure to add that to the cons list." Hotaru replied, closing her eyes and smiling in amusement.

* * *

As the siblings arrived to Hotaru's humble abode, they placed her to the ground and held her boiled noodles of arms over their shoulders.

"You really didn't have to," Hotaru snickered nervously. "I said I could walk."

"Just tell us where the keys are-jaan." Kankurō sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, they're in here." the youngest girl said, pointing to her left pocket. Kankurō huffed as he reached in for the house key, making her blush slightly.

Silence greeted them as they slowly walked into the house. Temari inhaled the familiar, friendly vibe that surrounded the rather spacious entrance, while Kankurō took in the backdrops, seeing as it was his first time actually entering Hotaru's house.

A large, circular open window opposite to the entrance brought in the luminance of the new moon, shining down on a long zataku dining table surrounded by six zaisu chairs. Contradicting the idea of sitting on the chairs were long sofas against the wall on the right, draped in dark grey matter and large fluffy pillows. Two spherical paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving little to no effect in the lighting of the room.

Portraits of paintings hung on the walls, above and ahead of the couches, while each corner of the house was connected by large black vases holding bamboos. Four sliding doors aligned the walls on either side of the living room, while another door stood to the right of the hallway of the entrance. Looking into that door revealed a petite white kitchen, which had its own window looking out to the living room.

"Cute." Kankurō mumbled as he studied the paintings, reading the haikus written on the bottom right of the frames.

"There's a tank in that room, if I remember right." Hotaru said, pointing with half an arm to the last door on the left wall.

"A tank?" Temari asked as she walked toward the room, holding on to Hotaru tightly.

"Yeah...I'm guessing I wasn't the only one that could be in a condition like this. I thought it was a large aquarium at first, but I suppose I was wrong."

Temari slid the door open and the room came into view, seeming to be another living room altogether in its capaciousness.

A broad, navy sheeted bed stood on the right of the door, accompanied by deep crimson pillows. The tank that Hotaru spoke of stood tall and wide at the wall ahead of the door, almost closing any possible entrance to the cabinets on its left. The room was also dimly lit by a poor excuse of a square shaped lantern, standing on the right side of the bed. Dust accumulated on the floorboards and bedsheet.

"Still didn't turn that thing off?" Temari asked, nodding to the lamp.

"Nope. It slipped my mind..."

"Sure, it did."

Temari spotted a little note stuck on the somewhat dusty glass surface. "Emergency only?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, looking at the girl on her right.

"I don't know," shrugged Hotaru. "I suppose situations like _these._ "

Temari said nothing and tipped Hotaru away from her slightly, ordering her to get into the tank.

A smile tugged at the corners of Hotaru's lips as her eyelids drooped low. "Damn Temari, the sexual tension is so thick; a knife could barely dent it." She gave an exaggerated laugh as Temari groaned, hiding a smile of her own. Soon, Hotaru found herself in the water.

 _Stupid girl,_ Temari thought, unable to deny the fondness she felt toward her.

"It's so cold!" the brunette exclaimed through the glass, her teeth rattling.

"Should've thought of changing the water." Temari replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I changed it last month..."

"Of course it would be freezing by now."

"You're no help either, Temari."

Bringing her hand up to her face, Temari continued to hide a subtle smile as she studied the somewhat shivering girl. "Should you be dressed while you're in there?"

The expression on Hotaru's face turned from ' _I'm freezing!'_ to that of a flirtatious nature. "Not now, Temari," she hissed playfully. "Kankurō-kun's here. We should wait till he's gone, then you can ask me to get undressed."

Temari pushed out a loud groan as she wiped her face. "Just get undressed. How could you even be in there with shoes? You're just as disgusting as your jutsu." she turned the other way and strode to the door.

"For the record, I forgot I had them on!" Hotaru shouted out after her best friend, struggling to remove her attire and shoes.


	10. 8 - Intervention

_"You never listen."_

* * *

Kankurō stationed himself at the couch, staring ahead at his reflection on the TV as he wondered what kind of videos did Hotaru own. His eye caught his sister walking out the room. "What's gotten you in a good mood-jaan?"

"That creature in there," she snickered faintly. "Nevertheless, I'm glad that her mind and chakra is well-wired enough to bring forth a technique when her life's on the line."

He nodded with a smile before seriousness took over his features. Standing up, he walked into the room and Temari followed suit, crossing her arms.

"What the...!" exclaimed Hotaru, putting her somewhat fleshy hands over her already concealed chest and turning her lower half into liquid. " _Temari!_ "

"Kankurō doesn't care about such things," Temari remarked distantly. "Besides, we have more important things to discuss."

Even though Temari had said that, a faint tint of pink on Kankurō's cheeks would beg to differ. He cleared his throat as he crossed his arms. "It's about Gaara-jaan."

Hotaru blinked and brought her hands up to the glass. "Is he okay?"

Kankurō cleared his throat once more.

"Oh, sorry..." blushed Hotaru.

"He's fine," Temari said, noticing her brother look to the ground. _Bad timing, I guess._ "We're here to talk about how _you_ react to _him_."

Forcing out a painful laugh, Hotaru slipped backwards into the tank. "Haha...what are you talking about?" she pointed at Kankurō, widening her eyes.

"It's about how you feel about him-jaan," Kankurō stated, looking at her.

"You _told_ him?!"

"She didn't have to, but thanks for confirming my assumption." He answered harshly.

Hotaru shook her head, confused.

"It's in the way you look at him, Hotaru. For a long time now, that's all we see when Gaara is there," Temari explained. "This not only endangers you, but also everyone else around you. I wouldn't give two shits if I hadn't known you or if you were from a different village, but you're my best friend. And now that our teams are working together, I _have_ to interfere...out of care, in the very least."

 _You've got a funny way showing it,_ Hotaru thought as she bit her lip.

"To be fair, it also affects us as siblings - as family, the most."

"It's actually incomprehensible," Kankurō added. "He is my brother and I care for him, but he is also the host of the ichibi. Keep that in mind the next time you find yourself smiling because he's in the same room as you-jaan."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes at them as she snarled, absorbing their condescending expressions. "You're forgetting that he's _human_ too. Is it _bad_ that I want to treat him like he's not some sort of tool?"

The siblings stiffened before Temari responded aggressively. "You think we haven't tried? You think that—"

"No," Hotaru interrupted, frowning. "Because if you had, he wouldn't be so _alone_."

"We can't _do_ anything about it." Kankurō said aloud.

"And neither can _he_!" she yelled. "You think he _chose_ to have that thing in him? He's...he's just a boy!"

An abrupt wave of guilt laced with shameful pride hit the siblings in front of her as they lowered their gazes to the ground. They knew what she was talking about – it haunted them every day. They loved their little brother, but sometimes…things aren't as easy as other people would think they are.

"Hotaru-chaaan?" Hachiro's voice echoed through her empty house to the room the three of them stood in. "I think I fell asleep while waiting for..." he trailed off he entered the room, eyes meeting with the two siblings.

"Chiro-nii," Hotaru forced on a weak smile. "Sorry, training took a while...and this happened." she looked to her almost visible arms.

"What are you two doing here?" Hachiro asked the siblings, ignoring Hotaru. "And what happened to her?"

Without answering Hachiro's question, Kankurō turned to Hotaru and snarled. "Don't let this build up inside of you-jaan. How do you expect to train against someone you have feelings for? When that someone you have feelings for can _kill_ _you,_ at any instant-jaan?"

Hotaru leaned forward, as close to Kankurō's face as possible. "I'll handle it."

The boy with the painted face scoffed, stepping back. "If I were you, I'd know better. Just...whatever Gaara makes you feel, however _you_ feel around him, ignore it, if you don't have a death wish-jaan."

"I said, 'I'll handle it'." Hotaru repeated through gritted teeth. Kankurō shrugged in return.

" _Don't underestimate me,_ " she hissed before raising her voice to them both. "A simple 'we love you and we don't want you to die' could've sufficed, you know."

Temari couldn't help but crack another hidden smile at the sarcasm in her best friend's voice. She turned and placed her hand on Hachiro's shoulder, leaning close to his ear and whispering. "Why don't you talk some sense into her? She might actually listen to you."

"I've tried before but...I'll try again." Hachiro replied, slightly giving the blonde a smile.

"I'll see you soon, kid." Kankurō murmured as he turned to follow his sister.

"Sure, dipsticks." said the brunette.

As soon as they were out of Hotaru's house, Temari looked at Kankurō and half-smiled with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Kankurō asked in irritation, the tint in his cheeks somewhat visible.

"I couldn't tell if that was you putting on your moves or giving her a warning." Temari chuckled.

"What do you mean-jaan?"

Laughing before she could speak, his sister went to a much lower tone. "'Whatever Gaara makes you feel,'" she teased. "'Ignore it.'"

A groan crawled its way out his lungs as he rolled his eyes. "For an older sister, you sure act like a five-year-old," _This really isn't the time, Temari._

"'However you feel around him,'" Temari continued. "'Ignore it.'"

He scoffed and shook his head. "You're stupid-jaan."

* * *

"I know what you're going to say." Hotaru muttered, with her back turned to Hachiro.

"Oh, yeah? What would it be, then?" he sighed, picking up her wet clothing and shoes.

She turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "What?"

"You said you knew what I was going to say. So, what's your answer to my question?"

"Um...I won't stop caring for him...?"

Hachiro snickered lightly. "I don't think that's something you could eat."

Biting the insides of her lips, Hotaru blushed. _You just HAD to put on a tough act. Couldn't help it, could you?_ "Tch, whatever..." she turned away again, avoiding his gaze.

"Would you rather rest tonight?" he asked.

"No, I don't want to rest or sleep yet. Sleep is for the weak, anyway."

"If you say so." he smiled feebly, walking out.

"Tch..." Hotaru glared at nothing in front of her in particular, mad at herself for acting in such a childish way. Staring at her reflection, she wiped her face as she pushed herself up to the surface and inhaled deeply, throwing the rest of her body out of the tank.

Hachiro stood in the kitchen, facing the opening to the living room as he poured himself a glass of cold water. Movement up ahead caught his attention, and his vision was met with the brunette.

"Put some clothes on, would ya?" he said, trying to stifle a laugh.

She put out her tongue in response, shaking the excess water off her body while striding to the door ahead of her and twisting the doorknob, reintroducing herself to her cold room.

"But I don't feel like it..." she mumbled to herself, staring at her yellow bed.

Her windows consisted of butterscotch curtains, making her wonder how her parent's decorations were miles apart in comparison to hers.

Clothes were scattered on the floor. On the right side of the room stood a gingerbread colored dresser, carrying up a smaller, orange circular mirror and some things she'd only use on special occasions. Further to the right from where the dresser stood and near the corner of her room stood another sliding door, leading to the bathroom.

Inhaling deeply, she sucked it up and got over the sadness that insisted on staying, walking to the matching gingerbread cabinet on the left of the body-length mirror and pulling out a marmalade robe.

 _I wonder if this was moms..._

Gliding her way to the stools under the window of the kitchen, her eyes followed Hachiro, who was stirring a pot full of noodles. She rested her head on her right palm, images of the day coming to mind and making her smile.

It was silent, but Hachiro then spoke as he poured noodles into a green bowl. "Thinking about Gaara?"

"What? What makes you say that?"

"I know _that_ smile, Aru-chan."

Continuing to grin, she took the bowl that Hachiro handed to her. "We talked today..."

His eyebrows rose in interest as handed her the bowl. He then leaned on the kitchen table, sipping on some tea. "What did you talk about?"

"Well, there wasn't a _specific_ subject..." she smiled wider, playing with the noodles through chopsticks. "I mean, it wasn't much of a conversation. It was more like...this little interaction."

"You _do_ know that it's never going to work out, right?" his eyes were trained on the drink in front of him.

"...Wh-what do you mean?"

"You know, this whole 'crush' thing you've got on Gaara."

"...What makes you say that?" she frowned.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that he's a merciless killer with no emotion whatsoever an—"

"I already told you that I know what you're going to say about that, _and_ I already told you my response."

"This isn't a game, Hotaru," Hachiro placed his mug on the table behind him and stepped to Hotaru's direction, folding his arms. "Feeling something for a _monster_ ultimately puts your life at stake."

"Don't call him that," she hissed. "What do you even know about him?"

"I know enough to tell you to _stay away_ from him."

Her eyes widened in feign shock. "Oh? And what will you do if I don't?"

Hachiro sighed in annoyance, running his hand through his hair. "For fuck's sake Hotaru, it's right in front of you! The guy literally _smells_ like blood!"

"Watch your language."

He slammed the surface of the counter top. "Stop acting like a freaking kid and get your shit together!"

Hotaru stood, leaning on the counter. "I'm not acting like anything!"

"Then what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm standing up for him!"

A moment of silence passed as Hachiro stared at her, not believing what she had said. _I thought it was just some stupid-ass phase a fourteen year old would go through._ "Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"I mean," he raised his voice, anger pulsing through his veins. "Why the fuck are you standing up for a killer? Are you _waiting_ for some sort of proof? Are you waiting for him to kill someone in front of you for you to feel dumb enough to change your fucking mind?"

"Don't talk like that, Hachiro—"

"Well, fuck, fuckity-fu—"

"Get _out!"_

His breath caught halfway while he stared at her in disbelief. "Fine!" he shouted, chest heaving in rage. "I don't need your shit. I have enough of my own shit to deal with."

Stopping before he could exit the house, he turned and pointed a finger at her. "When you come to terms with the truth, I'll be there to tell you that I fucking told you so."

With a slam of the front door, he was gone.

Hotaru sighed heavily and sat back on the stool, rubbing her temples and pushing her hair away from her face.

 _Great, I didn't even get to train._


	11. 9 - Lack of Sleep

_"This feeling that boils up inside of me;_

 _is it white or black?"_

* * *

Hotaru mumbled in her sleep, soon jolting up in shock. Groaning, she rubbed the side of her head. The bright lights of the room stung her hooded eyes as she tried to look up at the clock, hanging beside the window.

 _00:36_

"Agh, not again..." she growled, slamming her body back on the bed. "Go to sleep, go to sleep!" shutting her eyes tight and squirming under her sheets, she mentally continued to order herself to _please, just go to sleep!_

But thoughts of Hachiro, Temari and Gaara crowded her mind.

She played out the scenario of the little argument between her and Hachiro, adding a few things to it and wondering how it would've been if things went differently; if things went her way. Then they'd laugh and eat, forgetting about the ordeal. Hotaru smiled at her thoughts, but that was all they were: thoughts.

 _He can't be a killer...not really, right?_

 _He is. He is, and somewhere, deep in that ignorant little heart of yours, you know it to be true, Hotaru._

 _But he's just a boy..._

 _He's not a boy. He's a monster._

 _Don't call him that!_

 _The fuck you gonna do about it? He's a killer; just admit it to yourself already._

 _But...as shinobi, aren't we all killers?_

"Why didn't I say that?! Argh, it would've made Hachiro's mouth shut _so_ tight!" groaning before letting out a deep sigh, she turned to face the ceiling, wide awake now. "Next time. Just...don't forget that line, jeez!"

 _Hachiro-nii, I'm sorry for kicking you out like that._

 _Why don't you run into the arms of the killer you just stood up for, hm?_

 _It's not like that, Chiro-nii..._

 _However it is, I don't want to fucking know._

 _Chiro-nii, please don't be like that. I'm sorry, okay?_

Sighing, she got off the bed and pulled her hair off her sweaty back. Her thoughts then went to the redhead as she dressed herself in her casual attire, strapping her weapons pouch around her right thigh and holding a canister of water.

 _You can't be a 'killer'...not really, right?_ She thought, putting on her sandals and locking the door behind her.

 _I am._

A subtle smile spread across her face as her mind got lost in the presence of her thoughts, chest opening up to the cool wind of the village.

 _Would you kill me?_

 _If I needed to, I would._

 _And if you didn't need to?_

Silence sounded off alarms in her head as she noisily paced through the streets to where the waterfall was, when a distracting _click_ was heard behind her. The slight breeze turned into a sweep of strong wind as she stopped walking and her breath caught itself halfway up her throat.

Turning slowly, her eyes met with empty mint-green ones, making her heart drop to her feet.

"Gaara-kun," she breathed, stepping to his direction. "...You don't sleep, do you?"

"No." he replied.

"I…don't either," she smiled, unable to tame herself. "I mean, I do sleep, it's just that sometimes I can't. What are you doing out here?"

Suddenly he was in front of her, standing centimeters shorter. "I could ask you the same thing."

She shuddered lightly at his advance. Mistaking his actions for means of attraction, she continued to smile, blushing. "I...um, I wanted to go train...uhm..." she stepped back, swallowing a wad of nerves accumulating in her mouth. "Do you want to join me?" _DIPSTICK! Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking!_

Irritated by her sudden step-back but knowing better than to show it, he shrugged, getting lost in his thoughts and conversing with his inner-demon.

"What are you doing?" Hotaru's voice was heard; a laugh present in her tone.

Gaara looked at her with widened eyes, seeing his sand crawl up her body. What bothered him yet also mesmerized him was her reaction; it was the same reaction she had to his sand earlier. _Her daft innocence..._

 _My esteemed self sees it as more of an advantage on our side!_ Shukaku laughed loudly.

 _I agree, mother._

 _"The guy literally smells like blood!"_ Hachiro's voice echoed in Hotaru's mind as the scent of rust crowded her nostrils. She gulped, trying to ignore the morbid memory.

"It tickles, you know." She giggled, watching the sand curl up the curves of the scar on her left arm.

An image flashed in Gaara's mind, making him stiffen and having his sand fly back into the gourd. He looked to Hotaru's eyes, wondering what this feeling was and what that image had been, struggling within himself to find logic in his actions. Abruptly, he held his head as it began to throb heavily, groaning loudly.

Hotaru gasped and took a large step to his side, but backed away as he arched over, crouching low to the ground.

He clasped his head and panted, making the pain grow stronger. Many things were running through his mind, screams and cries, severe anguish clawing every corner of his cranium. _Make it stop...mother, I'm sorry, please make it stop!_

"Stay away!" he shouted as he sensed Hotaru inch closer.

She stiffened, shock making her as rigid as a statue. Ignoring his words, she continued over to him while her hands started glowing a faint green. Crouching low to his shuddering state, she placed her hands over his. _Be brave. Be gentle._

His erratic breathing simmered down slowly as he felt the stab of ache dull to the back of his mind.

"I don't know if this will help," she said softly, making direct contact with his head as she removed his hands. "But it's worth a try."

He turned up to her, eyes opening slowly to look at this strange, naïve girl that seemed to be consistent around him. Her voice echoed along the currents of blunt pain in his head, not entirely providing him with a straight answer. _"Do I know you?"_

"What are you doing?" he roughly asked.

She furrowed her eyebrows before responding. "Um...I don't know, but I'm trying...I mean, does your head hurt still?" _be brave,_ she thought, trying to ignore the outbursts of emotions in her stomach.

The pain was now a numbing throb and he couldn't quite feel it anymore. _Amateur medic-ninjutsu,_ he thought as he gulped down a breath of fresh air, closing his eyes and exhaling while relaxing in her grip. He sat up straight and she followed involuntarily, leaning forward.

"I'm fine," he replied flatly while shoving her hands away. _Motives; what motives does she have?_ "Why?"

"...Why?"

"Why are you healing me? Why are you still here?" a wave of sadness and misperception overtook him. _I see how everyone protects each other and care for each other...is she doing the same thing? Is this...a trick?_

"Like I said," she answered as she stood. "I'm going to train...do you want to come along?" the question came out like a sudden sharp arrow, surprising Gaara and even herself.

Within a second, Gaara's wide eyes turned into thin slits. When he didn't answer, she shrugged and turned the other way, humming to herself.

* * *

Reaching the waterfall after what seemed like stretched out minutes of irritating thoughts, Hotaru turned her hums into a dragged out sigh of relief. _Finally._

It wasn't much of a waterfall in size or appearance, but it could help in her training sessions. Trees surrounded the area lit under a dim new moon, giving the atmosphere more of an eerie presence.

 _Don't think about it,_ she thought as her heart beat faster. "You're alone. Nothing can hurt you here. Keep your eyes wide open and you'll see."

Heaving in a deep breath, she broadened her eyes to take in each reflection of light, not seeing anything out of the ordinary that could possibly harm her. "You're all right, dipstick."

The sound of water crashing together smoothed out the rough edges of her fear, but only slightly. Six hundred centimeters above ground, white foam cascaded down to an almost clear plunge pool, interrupted by rocks and boulders – but the steps of brown glimmered quite beautifully under a heavily glittered sky.

Nature collected mostly at this side of the village, which is why it was Hotaru's favorite place to be. Patches of green appeared on either side of the fall, trailing all the way down to the ground. As for the body of water; it was quite large, while the stream that stretched out from it curved lengthily outwards, reaching its end into the underground, like a brushstroke disappearing into oblivion.

Removing her sandals and collecting chakra to her feet, she walked onto the pool slowly, goosebumps appearing from the feel of the sudden cold liquid. She breathed in deeply, turning her concentration to the sounds of soft exhales, the wind around her and the chakra within her.

"This one's for you," mumbled Hotaru with a smile, soon humming and sending her full attention to her chakra.

 _Hiden; go hard or go home!_

* * *

It had felt like hours had passed when Hotaru almost blacked out.

Breathing heavily as she bobbed on the surface of the water, she managed to reach the point to where she could liquefy her whole body except from the chest-up.

 _Go hard or go home!_ The woman's voice echoed throughout Hotaru's worn out mind once more.

"...I think I'd rather go home this time..." she said to herself, smiling at the presence of her loneliness.


	12. 10 - Iwai Family

_"And without you is how I disappear."_

* * *

 _Beautiful,_ a woman's voice echoed. _Be safe, Manarie._

"Open up! You've got an appointment to get to!" Hotaru heard a muffled voice yell, banging on her front door. "It's not like it's the first time we fight, ya know! Get up and open this door!"

Her half-opened brown eyes went up to the clock, momentarily squinting from the glare of the sun through the window.

 _11:48_

With a heavy sigh, she threw herself back on the bed and shut her eyes tight, gritting her teeth when Hachiro continued to knock and shout.

"Hotaru! Open up!"

A deep growl emerged from the depths of her chest as she threw on the marmalade robe, wrapping it tighter than she could handle.

"WHAT?!"

"Good, you're up. Come have lunch with me so you can get to the hospital on time." said Hachiro, fighting back a smile. "What are you waiting for? Put some clothes on and come."

"You don't just come out of the blue and invite me over. I just woke up!" despite how annoyed she felt, she was also relieved that the fight between them last night didn't change the way things were playing out.

"You know what? What you've got on is fine. Just come with me."

He pulled her out of the house as her entire body protested, rather unsuccessfully and eventually allowing her over the door frame.

"Hachiro-nii! Would you just—"

"C'mon, don't wanna be late!"

"I _didn't even have breakfast yet,_ for crying out loud!"

"Doesn't matter!"

* * *

"So...how's your mom?" asked Hotaru timidly.

"Same old, really. She asks about you a lot. We had a fight yesterday so as means of cooling it down and changing the subject, I brought you up and told her that you were coming over for lunch."

She scoffed. "Glad I could help."

"We didn't fight afterwards, so your existence is actually useful." chuckled Hachiro, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.

Nodding and smiling in response, Hotaru looked ahead at the buildings, smiling at the civilians that met her eyes while holding herself tightly. _Couldn't let me change, could you, Chiro-nii?_

"I'm coming with you to the appointment, you know. You don't have to worry about it."

"Just you?"

Furrowing his eyebrows and meeting her glance, he nodded. "Yeah...didn't Ryo-sensei tell you what we've got on for today?"

She shook her head slowly, as if in painful denial. "No."

"Oh..." he looked ahead once more. "Since we were paired with Baki-san's team, they agreed to have each of us go through a trial with the three. So Kamiko-chan won't be joining us today, neither will Ryota-sensei."

"Wait, but how is that fair? One up against three? That's stupid." Her arms went up in expression of her misunderstanding, recalling the 'training program' Ryota spoke of yesterday. "And all three of them for each three of us for the next three days? Last time I checked, we weren't some...some...extremely powerful, multicolored team with out-of-this-world stamina and strength. Our weapons are average. Maybe even below it."

"Relax, Aru-chan," Hachiro snickered, nudging her by the elbow. "Baki-san saw how unfair it was to his students as well as to us, so they mapped it out: Kamiko-chan versus them, day off, me versus them, day off, and then you versus them, day off. When the third day off is over, it'll be our turn to go against each one of them."

"Where was I when all this happened?"

"You were either running around or, you know, filling your bottle with water." he rolled his eyes, recalling that she didn't go alone.

"…Right."

Looking at her and arching his eyebrow, Hachiro asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," reacting swiftly, she shook her head and forced out a laugh. "Three's a crowd anyway."

"If you mean your appointments, they _will_ be there sometimes. You do know that Ryota-sensei is going to _need_ to be there. He's our teacher and we're a team."

"I'd actually prefer it if he was kept in the dark from all of this. I don't want him in any of my appointments."

"Why not?" he scowled.

She blinked rapidly, a fire burning at the pit of her stomach. "Not that there's anything wrong with it; it's just that he already has this impression of me and...Then seeing me in such a mindless state would only, like, I don't know, confirm his impressions and increase them in doubt or whatever."

"I'm sure he doesn't see you the way you're describing yourself as, Aru-chan. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Chiro-nii, how am I supposed to go easy on myself when I feel so...pointless? Do you have any idea how it feels to just stare at something and not know what to do with it?" frustrated tears lined her lashes.

"You're not pointless. Heck, I walk into rooms and forget why I was there sometimes."

"It's different than just 'forgetting'. I swear, I look at some of the things I have and all I could think of is 'how on earth am I supposed to use that?' and it drives me _crazy_. Like, it took me about ten minutes to realize what that brush I had in the toilet was for. Do you know how that feels?!"

"You mean the toothbrush?" he asked, shaking his head soon as he realized his mistake. "I'm sorry, Aru-chan. After lunch, we'll find everything out. Don't worry about it."

"Funny; it's been, what, two years? And _now_ they're coming to me about it?"

"C'mon, better than not coming at all, right?"

"I suppose..." she huffed, lowering her arms as they walked to Hachiro's doorstep.

"Forget about that for now. The Iwai household missed you." he told her over his shoulder, a smile crawling up his cheek.

Entering the house sent waves of nostalgia through her. Her legs were immediately met with a little boy, slamming onto her thighs while laughing into her clothes.

"Hotaru-san!" the little boy with navy hair squealed, shaking his head.

"Yuji-chan!" Hotaru smiled, crouching low and embracing the five year-old. "How's my little monster?"

"Where are you?" he exclaimed with wide silver eyes, not answering her question. "I didn't see you in very long!"

"See what I mean?" Hachiro muttered to her, half-smiling as she laughed.

Standing and holding on to Yuji's little hand, Hotaru walked into the living room, nodding at Hachiro before he could close the door behind her. Several scents of different kinds of foods surrounded her, drawing a smile along her cheeks. Yuji led her into the kitchen where Hachiro's mother stood at the stove, sizzling food.

"Mama, Hotaru-san is here!" Yuji called out, letting go of Hotaru's hand and running over to his mother.

Turning around swiftly, Hotaru's brown eyes were met with light grey ones - ones that seemed a little too kind for her liking, though Hotaru knew better.

"Ume-san," Hotaru bowed in respect, only to be squeezed by the older woman who now laughed in her ears.

"Don't be so formal, Hotaru-chan!" she said through laughter, only a little bit taller than Hotaru and a couple inches shorter than her eldest son. "I haven't seen you in weeks and that's all you have to say to me?"

A wide smile plastered itself on across Hotaru's face as she pulled back, looking at her best friend's mother. The grin the older woman had on matched the way her sons would smile; somewhat mischievous along the lines of flirtatiously friendly. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun at the center of her head, though strands of the tyrant purple threads framed her heart shaped face.

"Sorry for not visiting, Ume-san—" Hotaru replied, bowing slightly once more.

"Nonsense," Ume shook her head, waving her hand as if to chase away the apology. "Hachiro tells me about it, so it's no problem at all. It's good to see you again, Hotaru-chan."

"You too." the brunette smiled, nodding.

"Oi," the woman said sharply, abruptly averting her attention behind Hotaru. "Why don't you do something useful around here and get her some clothes? You expect her to stay in this flimsy robe?"

Hachiro rolled his eyes and forced out a deep sigh. "No, I'll get to it."

"Yeah, you get to it," she turned to Hotaru once more, smiling from the intense scowl she just wiped away. "You go get dressed and we'll have the table ready when you're done."

Hotaru nodded, backing out the kitchen slowly as she waited for a command or two. "Do you need any help? I don't mind doing anything."

"We have things under control. Even Yuji will help," Ume turned to the boy on her right, gritting her teeth in what was supposed to be a friendly smile. "Right?"

"Of course!" Yuji yelped, soon joining his mother's side.

"Okay." Hotaru muttered as she turned to the door.

* * *

Sunrays heated the floorboards of Hachiro's house, but Hotaru didn't mind. It did make her reach for the glass of water given to her more frequently, but she enjoyed the heat of Suna's sun piercing her peach legs.

Little arms were abruptly wrapped around Hotaru's shoulders.

"Come here!" she laughed, pulling Yuji to her crossed thighs and tickling him within the bends of his neck.

"Don't make him laugh too hard," Hachiro said from behind her, putting kitchen supplies on a wide table. "He might throw up on you."

"I won't!" Yuji cried, forcing Hotaru's hands on his neck. "He's lying!"

"Tell that to mom's laundry basket," the older brother retorted, soon walking back into the kitchen.

The sound of the doorbell was heard, bringing about Hotaru's attention. "Let's go see who that is." she whispered as she pressed on Yuji's cheek, who responded in a giggle and a jerk of a nod. He went up to her neck and stuck his legs on either side of her shoulders.

Hotaru bounced her way to the door with her hands grasping Yuji's legs firmly but soon, all her enthusiasm dissolved at the sight in front of her.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Kamiko replied, narrowing her eyes.

"Go away! Hotaru-san is staying here today." Yuji pouted, crossing his arms on Hotaru's head.

"I need to talk to Hachiro about something." Kamiko said, smirking.

The brunette rolled her eyes and sighed, turning away. _What-the-flipping-ever._


	13. 11 - Crazy

_"If you open your eyes, you'll see that something is wrong."_

* * *

"I can't stay anyway," Kamiko folded her arms as she spoke to Hachiro, watching Hotaru from the corner of her eyes. Her old friend sat near the window as she waited for the food to be ready, playing around with Hachiro's younger brother. "Just wanted to make sure about... _things_."

"Don't worry about it," said Hachiro. "Good luck with your training."

"Which reminds me; you're up after me."

"What? Who told you that?"

She scoffed. "Ryota-sensei of course."

Hachiro followed Kamiko's gaze to their third teammate.

"I know you're worried," she stated. "But I'll be with her when you're not."

"That's _if_ you two can be in the same room without killing each other." Hachiro mocked.

Hotaru tried putting some logic into Yuji as she explained how to use the building blocks and turn them into a house.

"Hotaru-san," he mumbled.

"Yuji-chan, what are you hiding from me?" she chimed for the sixth time he called out to her, zooming in on the subject he had been trying to tell her but somehow ended up telling her something else.

"I'm not hiding anything!" he exclaimed. "I'm just very excited."

"What are you excited about?" smiling, she tilted his head upward slightly in order to maintain eye contact. It felt odd when she'd speak to someone and they wouldn't look at her.

"I'm going to be a ninja next year! Just like you and brother."

"Yeah? Ume-san's enrolling you next year?"

He nodded wildly, smiling. "Yes!"

The older one of the two brothers frowned as he heard the news he already knew of, striding to the two after closing the front door behind Kamiko.

"Yeah, you happy about that _now;_ wait until you're a few years in," Hachiro grunted, pulling his little brother out of Hotaru's hands. "Go help mother. Aru-chan and I will set up the rest of the table."

"Yessir!" Yuji saluted before skipping to the kitchen.

"You didn't have to be so mean about it," Hotaru said as she stood up, stepping to the dining table. "He's still a kid."

"He knows about what goes on yet doesn't really get what it _means_ to be a ninja, what it means to _do_...certain things." Hachiro said, placing the plates in their rightful places.

Ume walked out of the kitchen with bowls of steaming sansai soba, cold bowls of tempura soba and plates of ebi and sakana within a large tray. Yuji followed with an equally big tray, holding a large pitcher of red liquid with four medium sized glasses and wet towels.

Hachiro tsk-ed loudly and took the tray out of Yuji's little hands, placing it on the table himself.

"He wouldn't have been carrying it if you came in to help." Ume said sharply, putting the tray on the table as well.

 _I could've helped too, you know,_ Hotaru thought as she watched the mother and son argue under their breaths. Soon, they were all seated; the brunette at one end of the table, ahead of Ume, while Hachiro and his little brother sat to the left.

"So, Hotaru-chan," Ume began as she ate. "Hachiro tells me your team is training with another team."

Gulping, Hotaru nodded. "Mhm,"

"...Gaara's in that team too, right? So, the jinchūriki's team?"

The sudden declaration made Hotaru clear her throat. "Y-yes, Ume-san."

Yuji gasped. "Eh? You're training with the jinchūriki?"

A frown founds its way to Hotaru's features but she forced a smile. "Yes, we're training with Gaara-kun and his siblings." _Dipstick Chiro, why would you tell her that?_

"I see," Ume smirked. "Hachiro also tells me that you like the jinchūriki."

Hotaru swallowed hard as she glanced at Hachiro. "Yes...I, uh..."

"But Hotaru-san," Yuji muttered through a mouthful. "Isn't he a monster?"

She clenched her teeth, looking at the little boy. "Yuji-chan, he's not a monster. He's a boy just like you and Chiro-nii."

Ume let out a hearty chuckle, causing Hachiro to growl beneath his breath. "Mom now's not the time..."

"Now's a better time as any," Ume retorted. "After all, we don't see much of Hotaru-chan's pretty face anymore."

"Yes, yes!" Yuji agreed, completely ignorant of the tense atmosphere. "Hotaru-san has the prettiest of faces!"

Smiling involuntarily, Hotaru looked at her food and continued to eat, shaking her head at the negative ambiance. Her best friend shoved her with his foot under the table.

Grabbing her attention, he nodded at her as if to ask, _'you okay?'_

She raised her eyebrows swiftly, looking to her food once more. _I'm fine._

"You know what they say, Yuji," Ume spoke once more, her voice light and friendly but her eyes accusing and devious. "The prettier the girl, the crazier she is."

Without warning, Hotaru stood with widened eyes and her breath caught halfway up her trachea. "You know..." she began, but Hachiro stood along with her, sending her a warning glare. "I actually lost my appetite...and I can't be late for my appointment, so...thank you for the feast, Ume-san, but I'll be going now." she bowed and sped to the front door, keeping her head low.

"Come by any time!" Ume called out.

"Hey, Hotaru-san!" Yuji's voice was soon cut off with shock as the sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the house.

Hachiro clenched his fists around a napkin while his eyes went to his mother.

"Was it something I said?" she mumbled, putting a hand over her mouth.

He couldn't say anything; so instead, he slammed the napkin onto the table as he went to follow Hotaru.

"Leave her; nothing can be done now."

"It was a mistake bringing her here," stated Hachiro, taking a sharp turn to his mother's direction. _I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood knows by now, for fuck's sake._

"It's okay to want to help your friend, Hachiro, but you need to know when that friend is helpless and when they're beyond repair."

"She's not broken," he hissed. "She just needs guidance."

"But she's refusing to have some."

"What's wrong with Hotaru-san?" Yuji asked innocently.

"Shut up, Yuji! It's _your_ fault; you and that big mouth of yours." his older brother shouted.

"Don't talk to your brother like that!" Ume commanded.

Hachiro remained silent for a moment before hissing, "I'm sorry." and walking away, slamming the door behind him.

Hotaru was already a tiny figure in sight, causing Hachiro to sprint to her side. As soon as he got there, he placed a hand on her arm while he panted softly. "Hotaru—"

" _What?"_ she snapped, throwing his hand away. "Come to tell me how crazy I am?"

"I didn't mean for that to happen," he straightened himself to look at her, lowering his head to meet her eyes. "Mom can get carried away sometimes."

" _'Carried away'?_ Your mother just called me crazy!"

"Come on Aru-chan, just forget about it." His eyes softened, hoping to get on her good side.

"Don't call me that you dipstick," she backed away. "And I can't just 'forget about it'. She called me crazy, Chiro-nii! Like there's something wrong with me, in my head!"

"Can you freakin' blame her?!"

Hotaru blinked, not finding the answer fast enough. "Yes, I can. I can blame her, I can blame you, and I can blame this entire village for thinking that of me, for thinking _that_ of Gaara-kun!"

He forced out a sigh. "Fine, whatever. They're wrong and you're right; happy?"

"Don't tell me something I want to hear. You know what? Don't tell me anything; I'm going. Bye." She turned around to continue walking, but was abruptly halted by the grip of Hachiro's fingers around her wrist.

"Look, I'm sorry and I meant it."

Without looking back at him, she shook her head and sighed. "I'm going to be late. I'll see you later."

"I'm coming with you." he stated, loosening his grip.

"I don't need you to come with me. Just...just leave me alone for a bit."

"I'm coming with you and that's final, Aru-chan." His grip went tight once more, making her turn to him.

"Who put _you_ in charge? I don't _need_ you to be there. I'll see you afterwards!" she pulled her arm out of his hand, rubbing her wrist.

He frowned. "I said 'that's final', so whether you like it or not, I'm coming with you. Shut your pie-hole and accept it, idiot."

She paused at the severity in his tone. "F-fine, damn it." she mumbled in defeat, turning to walk again and having Hachiro follow behind her.

"Stupid girl." he muttered. _I swear, kids these days, thinkin' they've got the whole world figured out._

 _Fuck that._


	14. 12 - Cute Doctor

_"And when I think of all the places I just don't belong,_

 _I've come to grips with life and realize this is going too far."_

* * *

Drumming her short fingernails on her bouncing knees, Hotaru sat next to her doctor's office door, waiting for her turn. Hachiro sat on her right, practically falling asleep in his place. Cold air sent chills down her spine as it traveled to her bones within Hachiro's clothes, and all she could wish for was Gaara's presence.

 _I'd feel differently if he were around..._

"Hotaru?" her nurse stood at five foot one as she appeared at the door frame with a clipboard in her tight clutches. The usual attire for the nurses at Suna consisted of a long-sleeved maroon gown which didn't entirely show behind a long, white apron.

"Ayako-san." Hotaru looked up at the familiar woman, half-heartedly smiling at her whilst standing up and bowing.

"Tamotsu-sensei will see you now." smiled Ayako.

"Finally." Hachiro grunted, noisily getting up and following the two into Tamotsu's office. Another patient stood at the front of the doctor's desk as he gave him prescriptions of medication. Tamotsu was an aging man, with faded brown hair and glasses resting upon the tip of his nose.

"In case you were wondering," Ayako spoke humbly to Hotaru. "They have been pondering about your case for all these years. The reason that we're taking action now is because the chūnin exams are coming soon; we wanted to make sure your abilities won't be...strained and forced. We need to take a closer look once more into your episodic memory chamber...if you remember what that is...?"

"Yes," the brunette shook her head. "I remember. The amnesia I have only affects my…episodic memories and barely touches my… _other_ memories. I know that…"

"…Good," Ayako nodded. "With the exams coming up, Tamotsu-sensei proposed to look into it over again to see if we could find fresh revelations."

 _So it's mainly because of the exams, huh? Nothing specifically for me, I suppose..._

"He does care about each of his patients and a mystery like yours is not something he could ignore," she continued to smile, the expression reaching her dark emerald eyes. "Tamotsu-sensei will re-explain everything to you. Don't you worry, Hotaru."

Nodding in return, Hotaru bit the insides of her lips and pressed herself to the wall as the other patient left the room.

Tamotsu stood, genuinely smiling at the sight of the fourteen year old and her plus one. _My, it seems as though time flies._ "Ah, Hotaru, my favorite patient." he said aloud, olive eyes noticing the nervousness in Hotaru's posture.

Continuing to bite her lips, Hotaru pulled on a half-smile, bowing before walking slowly towards the right seat at the front of Tamotsu's desk. Tamotsu followed her movement and sat down as she did, folding his arms above the papers on his desk.

"How are you today?"

"I'm fine; um...Tamotsu-sensei, I —"

"A little hasty, aren't we?" he chuckled, breaking contact with her eyes and looking at the file beneath his arms. "As we both know, we haven't conducted a thorough investigation in your case."

 _Obviously. I wouldn't be here if that weren't true._ "Mhm..."

"With the chūnin exams falling upon us,"

 _Hah, knew it._

 _Man, don't say it like that,_ Hachiro thought, placing his hands on Hotaru's shoulders.

"I felt as though we needed to understand more of what your brain had to offer," Tamotsu continued. "We had been short on medic-nin but within the time that we had put your case aside, a few new ones joined us, so it is now possible to have an almost full scan of your mind."

" _Almost_ full?" she frowned, half-hearing her nurse clear her throat. "Why _almost?"_

"The consultants are not entirely complete...hopefully within a week or two, they will be."

"Two weeks? So, she'll have to come back here?" Hachiro asked impolitely.

Gritting his teeth to his disobedience, Tamotsu nodded. "That's correct."

Sighing, Hotaru relaxed in her chair. "So...what now?"

"Now," he stood, dusting off his already clean white apron. "Ayako will escort you into the room where you'll be scanned."

"You won't come with us, Tamotsu-sensei?"

"Unfortunately, I have a lot of matters to tend to; therefore I won't be able to. Don't you trust Ayako?"

Hotaru looked away once more, momentarily meeting her nurse's eyes. "Of course I trust her."

"Good, then. Also, Hachiro will be with you, and I will be checking on you; don't worry."

She closed her eyes and stood slowly, walking to her nurse but bowing before leaving the room.

"Ready?" even though Ayako spoke softly, Hotaru was slightly startled by her presence. Hachiro noticed this and grabbed a hold of the brunette's wrist.

"M...mhm," Hotaru nodded, looking up at her best friend for comfort.

Ayako led the two ninja towards the destined room. Upon opening the door, Hotaru's eyes widened at the sight of three medical-nin surrounding an almost black operating table, while a set of somewhat heavy machinery hung above it, behind the ninja. Three large batteries stood at their feet, connected to the machinery.

"Is...All of this necessary?" she muttered as she turned to Ayako, furrowing her eyebrows. _It's a lot more than the last time I was in here...'a lot' being a complete understatement, that is._

"Yes, Hotaru. Tamotsu-sensei said that there are much more practitioners compared to the last time as well."

"Wow...talk about an upgrade," she grabbed on to Hachiro's arm with her free hand, somewhat nervous as she stepped to the table.

"Welcome, Hotaru. It's good to see you again." the man who spoke had a lighthearted voice and a smile reaching his teal eyes. He stood with the two other ninjas, making one straight line while reaching the same height of five foot four.

"Shuji-san," she smiled, bowing to the ninja. "Likewise."

"Have a seat." said Shuji, gesturing to the table.

Hachiro helped her up on the table before being told to exit the room.

"I'll see you afterwards, Aru-chan." he mumbled, running his fingers lightly down her face. The brunette nodded and smiled softly at him. Her eyes went to the left as Hachiro walked out, seeing another medical-nin standing with his back to her. He seemed quite young and inexperienced for her liking when he turned around briefly, but when she noticed that he was performing a full-on Mystical Palm Technique, the thoughts of doubt immediately vanished and were replaced with utter respect.

"You _have_ to teach me that." she said aloud, fascinated.

As soon as the man was done, he turned to her and chuckled, making her blush. "It takes years to master this A-rank technique."

"I've got years," she smiled wider, her nervousness dissolving. "I'm a genin and to improve as a ninja, I will train and fight as hard as I can!"

Continuing to chuckle, he ran his right hand through his brown hair, cobalt eyes bright with amusement. "We'll see about that after the procedure."

"What level are you willing to achieve?" Shuji asked, bringing about her attention. He strode to her side and pushed her down onto the table.

"...I want to become Kazekage." she said absently, her eyes slowly shutting.

Most of the ninja in the room 'oo-ed' to her declaration while Ayako giggled and moved to stand to her right, taking Hotaru's hand in hers. "Why would you want to become the Kazekage?"

Eyes fluttering open, she looked at her nurse. "I want to prove to everyone that...that I'm not some small, weak kunoichi. That I'm capable of great things, like protecting the _entire_ village!" _And that Gaara...that Gaara isn't the monster they all think he is._

"Maybe someday, you'll make it." said Shuji with a smile. Ayako hummed in approval, nodding.

Shuji placed a circular part of the machinery over her head. "Kioshi-sensei, we're ready to begin."

 _Kioshi...sensei? He's the head doctor in here?_ She wondered, seeing the man from the left now near her. _Damn...he's..._

"You might want to close your eyes for this," he half-smiled, making her blush again. "It might take a while. Sleeping is an option."

A sudden smile found its way to her pale lips as she obeyed, closing her eyes slowly. Gaara appeared behind her eyelids as Shuji's words repeated in her head.

 _Someday...I'll make it!_


	15. 13 - Hachiro's Support

_"Told you; I'll be here forever."_

* * *

It didn't feel like it had been 2 hours when Hotaru woke up after the procedure, finding herself placed in the same seat she had been in within Tamotsu's office.

"How are you feeling?" he asked warmly, entwining his fingers together.

"Fine," she lied, smiling politely. "Are the results in yet?"

"They are, however..." looking up at Ayako, who stood near the door, he cleared his throat. "We'll need approximately a half-hour to examine the results and bring forth another hypothesis; a half-hour, give or take of course."

"Another thirty minutes just for a measly _hypothesis?_ " Hotaru barked rudely, making Ayako clear her throat.

"I'm sorry, Tamotsu sensei. She's just a little...stressed out." the woman with green eyes apologized on behalf of the fourteen year old brunette, narrowing her eyes at her. _What the hell are you thinking?_

"I understand; there's no need to apologize," Tamotsu continued calmly. "Hotaru, you can choose to wait until we have the results or I can make another appointment for you within this week."

Blinking rapidly, she shook her head. "I'll stay." she sighed, standing slowly and bowing to the doctor. "Thank you, Tamotsu sensei. I'll see you in thirty minutes."

"All good, Aru-chan?" asked Hachiro when she walked out of her doctor's room. "Ready to go?

"Not yet."

"What? How come?"

"Tamotsu-sensei still needs to check the tests to confirm a... _hypothesis_."

"You have to wait for a _hypothesis_?"

"That's exactly what I said!" she exclaimed, stepping closer to him. "I _have_ to stay...and in thirty minutes, they'll let me know what's up. Either that, or I'll have another appointment this week – I'm not sure I'll have the time for that."

"Argh, how pesky." he grunted, shrugging. "Right then; let's have lunch. You didn't finish your food at home so I can only imagine how hungry you must be. Over here," turning right from the corridor, he lightly pushed on a door to reveal a dimly lit waiting room. At the corner of the room stood a vending machine, its lights blinking slowly.

"Is this your idea of 'lunch', Chiro-nii?" Hotaru grumbled as he led them to the machine, pulling out some coins from his pockets and pushing on the machine's buttons. "If it is, then I decline."

"Shut up, Aru-chan. This is clearly here just for juice."

Receiving the boxed grape juice, she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at him.

"We can help ourselves to the staff's cafeteria," he continued, closing one of his eyes. "I happen to know someone who works here who can get us in there."

"Isn't that like...breaking the rules?"

He frowned before smirking. "Not when you've got permission it's not."

* * *

Said person that Hachiro knew who worked at the hospital turned out to be his uncle; a gentle looking thirty-eight year-old surgeon that owned the same features Hotaru's best friend did.

The duo sat near a large window that brought in the scenery of shrubbery with gusts of twirling sand. On the table lay two trays filled with food they had received from the cafeteria's lunch lady.

"So...I've got a list for what I'd like to do after I'm done here," she announced with a mouthful of food. "I need you to be there with me."

"OK. What do you wanna to do?"

She paused for effect before saying, "Training."

 _Did I expect anything else, really?_ Hachiro thought. He forced out a sigh before taking the last bite of his food. "OK. I'll tell you what to do."

She rolled her eyes but accepted it; after all, he was the only person she would allow to criticize her.

As he explained the steps to certain techniques, Hotaru smiled at the way he counted numbers on his fingers and frowned when he got frustrated at whatever was going on in his head.

"You always have good plans." she drank out of her juice box as soon as he was done.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged, smirking. "It's me, after all."

Moments of silence passed before Hachiro sighed. He leaned closer to her across the table and spoke in a low voice. "Look, I know it's not my place and the last thing you want to do is talk about this, but..."

Hotaru arched an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"About Gaara…"

As soon as his name was revealed, a scoff unintentionally emerged from her chest before she pushed her chair back, making its legs squeal across the tiles. "I'm not having this conversation again." _I already have enough crap to deal with, dipstick._

"Don't walk away. Hear me out," he called, louder this time as she stood and walked to the door. He followed instinctively, staying close. "I know you've got a lot on your mind now—"

"You clearly don't, dipstick. This 'issue' you keep bringing up is the least of my problems. Right now, while I'm in the hospital waiting for something that's grinding up my insides – you're bringing _this_ up?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about that argument; about the _arguments_ we keep having about that. Don't you think it would be better if we just bury the damn hatchet already? It's a pesky issue."

Annoyed, she stopped walking and looked up to Tamotsu's door before turning to meet Hachiro's eyes. "What is it this time? He's a monster? He'll kill me? I should stay away from him? What else is new?"

Running his hand through his hair and forcing out an exhale, he rubbed his face before continuing. "You're obviously not going to change your mind any time soon and...As your best friend – your _family_ , I'll always be there to support your decisions, even when they make me want to seal you up in a scroll of mine," he clenched his teeth. "But know that I'll call you out on your bull."

"Why can't you just leave it alone?" she inched back toward the door, unable to carry the weight on her shoulders anymore. "It's so hard for me to grasp onto feelings the way I do around him. It's so hard for me to be sure of things but when I'm around him...it feels like I'm _sure;_ it feels like I _know_ who I am, who I want to become. Maybe he can hurt me, maybe you're right and I'm not safe around him – but if there's one thing I'm sure of right _now_ , it's that...despite the facts that you constantly shove in my face, I know that I want to be around him and I _know_ that I will fight for him."

Her eyes widened when he abruptly placed his lips on her forehead. He understood what she felt like, because once upon a time, he had felt the same way about a certain kunoichi with black hair and piercing, amber eyes.

"I get it," he said, holding her arms. "I really do. But listen to _me,_ Aru-chan. I _know_ you, so…trust me. All right?"

She sighed, guilt forming a rock in her guts. _You're always finding ways to turn it all around, dipstick. I hate you for it._ "All right, Chiro-nii. But would you please…not bring it up anymore? For me, yeah?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, he shook his head. "Fine. I won't bring it up again."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die, Aru-chan." twirling her the other way and placing his hands around her shoulders, Hachiro led her to Tamotsu's office.


	16. 14 - Mental Stability

_"You're still a work in progress."_

* * *

Her views mainly reflected the way she saw herself; a flawed, weak girl that didn't exactly know right from wrong. Someone who would stare at objects and find difficulty in understanding their functions without holding on to them, someone who would ponder over foreign emotions and think of _how_ it's possible to feel something as deep as fear or hatred...over another person, another human being. To her, it seemed almost impossible.

"Are you feeling better?" Tamotsu asked, scrutinizing her wide, brown eyes.

"I'm fine, Tamotsu sensei." She replied, looking up to Kioshi, who stood behind Tamotsu's chair. Ayako sat to the left of Hotaru while Hachiro's stood behind her.

"You may leave," the man said warmly to Hachiro. "This matter is somewhat sensitive."

"All the more reason for me to stay, sensei," The silver-eyed boy replied, smirking.

Hotaru's fingers entwined as her palms produced a fair amount of sweat, her heart beat heading to her throat. "What's the news, sensei?"

He coughed lightly before looking down at the sheets of paper on his desk. Kioshi wore an unreadable expression as his blue eyes glinted with unease yet his features emitted weightless emotions.

"Well," Tamotsu began.

* * *

Hotaru and Hachiro exited the hospital and went to one of the training grounds. Hachiro said that it would be better for her to keep her mind off of the hospital day.

But that was something Hotaru couldn't mentally do as she recalled what happened earlier.

A bombardment of impersonal questions was followed by another brain-test for the frustrated, nervous brunette. It was a struggle that took up most of her day; images they'd present to her looked like something she could remember in an instant, but not name, and a few, ink-blotted sheets only revealed to her how impure her mind could be at times.

Tamotsu and Kioshi both explained to her what she already knew; the case of retrograde amnesia, of being unable to recall things of the past such as emotions and experiences. What was new to her was the fact that her amnesia has transitioned into several, complex branches. Her episodic memories transitioned into bits and pieces of the semantic memories - in her case, where everyday objects seemed like a battle.

 _"As you know Hotaru, your semantic memories were supposedly clear of any harm. It's the storage of experience and things that become all-too-familiar with your mind, such as, in shinobi terms, attacking with a kunai or aiming multiple shuriken—taking a shower, brushing your teeth and so on. The damage that is caused by the retrograde amnesia is bringing about problems in your semantic memories."_

 _"But how come? I thought that only happens with anterograde patients." Hotaru asked in fear._

 _"We're not one-hundred percent sure yet, as I recall mentioning earlier," he spoke smoothly. "The fact that you're forgetting everyday life functionalities tells us that you're an apperceptive agnosic – the picture test was enough evidence of that._

 _"_ _You may not remember this either, but when the ANBU first brought you into the village, you were suffering from a fugue state. You couldn't form words properly and you had no idea who you were, and most of the time, you wandered around the hospital aimlessly, sometimes throwing a fit with the nurses and breaking down in tears."_

His words replayed in her head as she tried to perform a jutsu, but distraction was like an annoying, bloodsucking mosquito.

 _"When we tried to look for your memories, only a few surfaced, such as moments of your life and people you loved. It was almost as if your mind was a sheet of paper; parts of it scribbled out while other parts remained. We attempted to search behind the scribbles and the darkness but we couldn't find the memories._

 _"_ _Almost as if there was something barricading us from entering your mind, which brings me to the topic of the suffering of insomnia and/or nightmares; whatever is blocking your memories from coming through weakens when you're resting. The memories that have been repressed fight to emerge to your subconscious mind in attempts of_ making _you remember._

 _"_ _Alas, we haven't found a cause to its presence nor were we able to find a purpose to it. But it switches on a state of PTSD within you."_

 _"P-PTSD?" Hotaru stuttered, not wanting to hear any more._

 _"Memories retrieved or not; the fact that you're already suffering from restless nights and disturbed sleep gives us a reason to be glad that those memories are suppressed. Whatever you have in there is better left hidden in the darkness."_

She shook her head at the echo of his final statement, not believing that there's something 'better-left-in-the-dark'.

"Just focus," Hachiro's voice was heard from her right. He rested on a foot of a tree, watching her train. "Don't think about what he said. You'll get through it."

 _I hope so,_ she thought.

 _"Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"_ Hotaru shouted as Hachiro watched. She managed to replicate several bodies of her own, sprawled on the ground next to her after a straight hour of training on the same technique.

"This is going nowhere. Also, I'm bored," Hachiro mumbled.

"I don't get it," she frowned, looking down at her hands. "My chakra control is close to perfect! What gives?"

"You're distracted."

Turning to face him, a growl slipped past her lips. _"No,_ I'm not, but now I am, thanks to you, dipstick." she sighed, slowly walking to him. She crouched low to reach his level, looking him in the eye with doubt.

"Don't worry about it, Aru-chan. I know that what Tamotsu-sensei and Kioshi-sensei said is bothering you, but trust me _–_ you'll be just fine. Plus, Ayako-san would have said something about it, and you're not as stupid as you look."

"Gee, thanks." She said, rolling her eyes and looking away. "Hmm…"

" _What?"_ his irritation took over him, especially by the creases of worry around her eyes.

"...I want to see Temari and tell her about this. Maybe she could help me in some ways, too."

"No problem. You have her, me, Kamiko-chan, Ryo-sensei and maybe even that guy with the makeup. Also Ayako-san and your two doctors; you're not going through it alone, you know."

"It's different from where you're standing,"

"Maybe we can't feel the way you do or see things through your eyes, but we _are_ going to be there for you. Besides, what kind of comrades would they be if they weren't? What kind of brother would _I_ be?"

"Hmm...how do you think Gaara would react?"

His eyes hooded as he shrugged with an unimpressed smirk. "Dunno."

She looked at him and scowled, keeping her voice low. "I wonder..."

Expressing a disgusted emotion, he pulled out a kunai from the black pouch wrapped around his left thigh and threw it to her shoulder.

Too slow to react, she observed the kunai pass through her body before sending him another glare. "What the hell, dipstick? What are you trying to do?"

"Get up," he ordered, pushing himself off the ground and soon pulling on to her upper arm. "We came here to train, right? So let's train."

Standing up with him, she pulled her limb out of his grip. "Fine," she huffed, bringing her hands together and forming a hand seal before repeating, _"Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"_

"Sloppy," he mocked, eyeing her doppelgänger. "Again."

She grunted and restated the technique, only to have him shake his head. "Again."

 _"Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"_

Watching her brought back memories of the same girl he thought of earlier. Her name was Nirako.


	17. 15 - Concealed Care

_"These eyes have had too much to drink again."_

* * *

 _"Are you even trying?" Hachiro taunted with a smile on his face, amusement filling his features as the wind whistled through his hair. "That's amateur. Is that your limit, Rako-chan?"_

 _"Shut up!" Nirako screamed, black hair sticking on her sweaty face. "You're distracting me, Chiro-kun!" She was the first one to minimize his name into something shorter._

 _The sun had begun to dip under the mountains of Suna, producing a fiery orange hue over the genin's heads. Nirako stood at the center of the first training field as she brought her hands together in formation of a seal._ "Fūton: Nekkikyū no Jutsu!" _she shouted, soon jumping off the ground and cupping her right hand near her mouth._

 _Abruptly, a harsh gust of hot wind blew at Hachiro's direction, dampening his body in mind-numbing humidity as well as producing miniscule cuts on his exposed skin._

 _"Not bad," he chuckled, simply wiping off the blood with his wet fingers. "For a genin."_

 _"Ha? As opposed to you?" Nirako exclaimed, landing on her feet while watching him closely. Immediately, she pulled kunai out of the pouch strapped to her back, sharply throwing them to his direction. "Too slow,_ genin!"

 _Hachiro's eyes widened in shock and his body immobilized as the kunai pierced through the skin at the center of his chest, sending him to the floor and turning into a lifeless statue._

Huh? _Nirako paused, frantically shaking her head._ Substitution?!

 _"Talkin' to yourself again, Rako-chan?" he scoffed in smugness, appearing behind her._

 _Before she could turn to meet his silver, mischievous eyes, he already had his grip around her shoulders and shoved her into the mud below with a smile spread across his face._

 _"Seriously, Chiro-kun?" she continued in a loud voice, enraged that her own jutsu worked against her. "That's not fair!"_

 _"Haaaa? How's that not fair?" crouching as low as he could to reach the level or her head, he grinned in mockery. "We're_ ninja _; deceit is almost a habit, you know."_

 _"You know what? I'll one day be the strongest kunoichi to ever live and_ change _the so-called rules!"_

 _"Yeah, yeah, you said that before," he sighed, shrugging. "Get out; Arata-sensei's waiting for us at the gate. Kamiko-chan's gonna meet us there, too. Now's not the time to play around, Rako-chan."_

 _A sarcastic laugh crawled out the pit of her stomach, reaching her features and tinting her amber eyes in profound vexation._ "I'm _the one who's playing around now?"_

 _Chuckling, he leaned closer to her._

 _"You're adorable," he declared, pecking her lightly on the forehead. "Little_ Genin _._ "

* * *

"Chiro-nii? Oye, dipstick! You're staring at nothing again with that weird look on your face. Chiro-nii!"

He hadn't noticed that his movements paused altogether as he recalled what happened to him that day, one year ago. Hotaru's voice was only a blur in the background.

Abruptly, she sent a fist to his face, snapping him back to reality.

"Now's not the time to think about that," she spat, replacing her scowl with a wide smile. "Say hello!"

Hachiro blinked, noticing Hotaru's twin standing behind her. "Huh?"

"'Huh' yourself! Didn't think I'd have it down in, what, almost two straight hours of trying, did you?"

Coming back to his senses and present time, he scoffed. "Oh?" pulling out another kunai, he jumped back and examined the twins. _Which one is she?_

Laughing once more, Hotaru and her clone chimed in unison. "You want to fight us both, dipstick?"

He ran to their direction, pulling out shuriken as well.

"Did you forget that we're one person and we share the same _hiden_?" One of the Hotaru's teased.

"Thanks for the tip," he winked, prancing into the air and performing a split, allowing his feet to meet their faces and knock them both to the ground."I know you can't turn your head into water yet."

The girls tumbled to the ground and a few inches back as the one that was hit by his right leg turned into nothing but a mere puddle on the ground.

"Gah, freakin' hell, Chiro-nii!" rubbing her face, Hotaru sat upright and groaned from Hachiro's left as he landed on his hands and feet. "Uncalled for, dipstick!"

"What? You expect me to go easy on you?" he taunted, walking over to her.

" _No_ ," she hissed, pushing herself off the ground. "I just...didn't see that coming."

Rolling his eyes, Hachiro dusted off her back. "Looks like your clones still need some tuning."

"Whatever," frustrated, she sent a fist to his face, which he grabbed in one hand. "Dipstick! I don't need any more bruises from you!"

"Quit complaining. If you want someone to go easy on you, find someone else to train with."

She looked away, the tint of shame appearing under the skin of her cheeks. "Never mind. Which training grounds are they on, anyway?"

"Four."

Hotaru's eyes went wide as a smile spread across her face. "Let's go, then!"

"Ha? Go where?" he asked, crossing his arms.

* * *

Both ninjas stood at the entrance of the fourth training grounds, awaiting their teacher and teammate. But they didn't have to wait long, since a silhouette on the far left of the two grabbed her attention.

Hotaru's heart began to beat out of pace as she watched the figure walk slowly to their direction. _Not this again,_ she thought. _Damn stomach...chill..._

Gaara then stopped and turned to look the other way.

"Why don't you go ahead and talk to him?" Hachiro mumbled sarcastically.

"Sh-should I?" she stuttered, looking up at the taller boy.

Turning to her before he could reply, he stopped the words that rolled out of his mouth. Her dark brown eyes were wide and glistening with what looked like hope to him; unadulterated hope that would make him feel guilty for insulting her this time.

Hachiro smiled and ran his fingers lightly over her face. "Maybe some other time, Aru-chan. He just finished training."

"I suppose you're right..."

Thoughts ran through Hachiro's mind, chasing one another as memories of the past brought out questions to the girl on his left. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you like Kamiko-chan?"

She paused before answering distantly, looking away and shrugging. "She's like my opposite."

"You know you were both best friends before you got amnesia, right?"

"I _know_ that, but I don't see it. Never…why are you asking?"

He shrugged. "No reason. It's strange, that's all."

She glared at him, seeing him avoid her gaze. "Strange? What's _strange?"_

Another shrug popped his shoulders. "Kamiko-chan and Temari are two completely different people, yet you somehow managed to become close to them both. It's just strange."

Rolling her eyes and sighing heavily, she looked forward at the closely approaching team. "Temari's strong and not to mention confident. Kamiko-chan...cares about how she looks more than how she performs as a kunoichi - unlike me. I don't know _how_ I could've gotten along with her before, but I sure as hell don't see it happening now, or in the near future."

"Temari's also rude and cocky; two things you dislike. Just like Kankurō—only, she's a girl."

Noting the aggression in Hachiro's voice, she decided to end the conversation. "Whatever, dipstick."

He released a sigh, giving up on the matter and hoping to change her mind about Kamiko sometime later. Hotaru did the same, and focused on the image ahead of them. The rest of the sand siblings appeared, while Ryota followed from behind.

Kamiko hung over Kankurō's shoulder like yesterday's laundry, panting heavily as she bled from small cuts running down her arms.

"Crud, d'you think Kamiko's okay?" exclaimed Hotaru, walking forward quickly.

Hachiro didn't respond, shocked by the image of his injured teammate. _Ah, shit._


	18. 16 - A Chance

_"Light and darkness, love and hate;_

 _They're all powerful emotions with the same roots."_

* * *

They abruptly broke into a sprint to the team ahead of them.

Hotaru asked her question aloud, stopping a few inches behind Gaara. "What happened?"

"Obviously," Kankurō replied, slowly letting go of Kamiko as Hachiro took her in his arms. "I was right about her-jaan."

"Are you sure that you were all just _training_?" Hachiro asked in annoyance. "It's like she came back from a damn mission!"

"We train with the intent to become stronger and to survive; we train with the intent to kill." Baki announced, crossing his arms.

Trying to have Kamiko stand on her feet, Hachiro sent a glare to Baki's direction, soon looking at the girl in his arms. "And who did this to her?"

" _I_ did," Temari smirked. "Wasn't even a challenge, honestly. You'd expect someone of her age and level to be better, but I guess a genin will always be a genin...or less, for that matter."

Glaring up at his teacher, Hachiro's eyes went narrow. "And you _let_ them do this to her?"

Ryota replied distantly. "I was only present when she had to face Gaara, but by then, she was already badly injured."

A scoff was soon heard from the redheaded boy. "I unfortunately didn't do anything. That is just how weak she is." _Temari beating her...I wonder how it would be to fight the rest of this man's team. Amusing, probably. Especially..._

" _You,"_ Hachiro hissed at him as he prepared himself for a fight. It was almost as if Gaara was about to crack a sadistic smile when Hachiro decided that he knew better than to go head-to-head with the bloodthirsty boy. He shook his head and let out a sigh. "I guess I'll know what to expect after tomorrow, then."

"Looking forward to it." Temari winked at the silver-eyed boy. He retorted with nothing more but a low scoff, his right eye twitching in response and closing, as if returning her wink. _Pesky._

Even though she was the first to speak, Hotaru now stood silently behind Gaara, allowing her emotions to inflame her insides. _Why do I feel so many things around you, Gaara-kun? I can barely concentrate on what's going on around me when you're this close. Am I losing it...?_

"Team seven, let's go," Ryota said, sending a palm out to his colleague. "After tomorrow will be Hachiro's turn. I trust that you're aware and ready, Baki-san."

Baki unfolded his arms and placed his palm in Ryota's. "We will be."

Crouching slowly, Hachiro carried Kamiko in his arms before sprinting. "Come to the hospital, Hotaru."

"I wonder how long she'll need to rest-jaan," Kankurō snickered, sending a smile to his older sister. "Nice, Temari."

Clearing his throat, Baki scowled at his students. "She's still a kunoichi from the village. Whenever you find yourself in a battlefield with her, don't make the mistake of underestimating her. You never know how strong someone could become."

Kankurō let out a scoff, shrugging. "Yeah, we'll see about that-jaan."

"Let's go." Baki ordered after sighing, turning the other way and disappearing into thin air after holding up a fixed hand seal.

"I wonder what kind of fighter that boy will be like," Temari mused as her brother strode to her side. "You think he'll be like _her_?"

"Doubt it. He seemed pretty strong and more straightforward-jaan."

"Hachiro's level might be even beyond you two." said Ryota, walking forward.

Temari broadened her teal eyes, stepping forward and sending a nervous smile to Gaara. "Let's go, Gaara."

Gaara turned around only to find Hotaru stare at him with twinkling curiously; brown eyes wide and lips parted, as if trying to say something but nothing would come out.

"What do you want?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Nothing," she responded as she blinked. "I, um...I just wanted to—"

"If you're trying to understand my techniques to come out alive when it's your turn, you're not doing a good job at it." he crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes.

Looking down to his limbs, she replied softly. "No, it's not that at all. It's really nothing, I suppose..."

He scoffed, gazing up at her. She wasn't exactly much taller, but a few inches made her somewhat taller than him in the very least. "What is your purpose with me?" he asked severely, paining her for a moment.

"No particular purpose," said Hotaru, searching her mind for words to say. _What reasons?! Oh yes, I remember!_ "I just wanted to see if you'd like to train with me."

"Train with you?" he repeated, confused. _Mother_...

 _She is just like any other person within this village. If you attack her, you know what comes as a consequence..._ Shukaku thought back, reminding his host.

 _There's more to it. A simple answer does not exist in the world I live in; 'training' was merely an excuse. Is she trying to have my existence erased?_

Shukaku grew somewhat excited at the thought. _You could say so._

 _Ridiculous; she knows that I could kill her any second._

 _My esteemed self agrees. Play along for now...just because she's from the village, doesn't mean we can't_ have _her, sometime in the future..._

"Maybe." Gaara grimaced, unfolding his arms and walking to where his siblings stopped. They looked back at them with curiosity and their faces were lined with worry, except for Kankurō, who looked borderline unimpressed.

Hotaru's insides jumped at his response, making her outwardly smile at him and bring her hands to her lips. She looked to the ground as he walked away, biting her bottom lip.

 _Hold your horses; he didn't say yes,_ she told herself. Turning and deciding to follow him, she saw her superior along with the other team. Like a sudden smack to the head, she looked at Temari and called out to her. "I have something I need to tell you!"

Temari smiled as Gaara arrived where they stood. Kankurō then nodded at his young brother and they were both gone.

"What is it, Hotaru?" the blonde asked as Hotaru reached her side. _I don't want to know what happened back there._

"I-it's about the appointment."

Temari's eyes widened at the mention of the last word, and soon the memories of Hotaru explaining to her the cards she was dealt with came to mind. "What happened?"

"Well..." Hotaru began, walking when she noticed Ryota stepping forward from the corner of her eyes. As they moved to where the hospital stood, she explained to Temari what happened and Temari simply asked questions where she thought was necessary.

* * *

Before they knew it, they were at the hospital. Hotaru hugged her best friend farewell and turned to her teacher, who looked down at her with mild disinterest.

"Is something wrong, Ryota-sensei?" she asked hesitantly, feeling small under his gaze.

"No," he stated distantly and turned to the entrance of the hospital. "Let's make sure Kamiko's okay."

Hotaru nodded and followed her teacher.

 _Your personal loyalty with the Sand Siblings is what bothers me,_ he thought to himself, taking small glances at the girl behind him on his right. _Trust is not something you must give so freely, Hotaru._


	19. 17 - How I Feel

_"And that hurt that you have, you just converted to gasoline."_

* * *

Walking into the hospital, Hotaru was greeted by her nurse.

"What are you doing here again, Hotaru?" asked Ayako with a smile.

"My student was admitted her mere moments ago; Hirayama Kamiko." Ryota answered for the brunette.

Ayako nodded. "Oh, she was admitted a few minutes ago through the emergency ward. Hachiro-kun was with her, yes?" she giggled. "He's very persistent; if it weren't for him, she would probably be sitting at the waiting room for her turn."

"Which room are they in, Ayako-san?" Hotaru rushed, taking notice of her teacher's impatience and having no time to deal with one of Hachiro's admirers.

"Hm..." the nurse looked through the clipboard. The information she had baffled Hotaru and made her wonder how she knew almost everything that went around in the little hospital. "Ah, room 297. The doctors are already tending to her wounds. They were only minor even though they had looked vital, but she'll be okay within an hour at most. And—"

"Thank you." Ryota interrupted and headed down the hallway immediately.

Jerking her head to the nurse and bowing, Hotaru followed her teacher as fast as she could. "Sorry, Ayako-san! But thank you!"

Ayako stood with confusion showing through her features, shaking her head. _That team..._

Hotaru walked quickly along the hallway, staying at Ryota's heels. _I didn't imagine him being_ this _worried._

"Hachiro how is she?" her teacher exclaimed as soon as the silver-eyed boy was in sight. He stood in front of a door and examined its insides through a square window.

Turning to see Ryota, Hachiro furrowed his eyebrows before looking ahead of him at Hotaru. "She's fine Ryo-sensei, just a few bruises is all. They're cleaning up her wounds and giving her a few stitches." he stated, walking forward to Hotaru.

"Is Miko-chan going to be okay?" she asked, placing a hand over her heaving midriff.

"She'll be fine. Right now, they're just cleaning her up and covering her in bandages where the cuts went deeper," said Hachiro before being interrupted by the voices of his teacher and a nurse.

She sent them into Kamiko's room, where the genin sat on the hospital bed with bandages covering her arms, neck and shins.

"You look fine! You wanna go on a mission, Miko-chan?" Hotaru forced out, grinning with her eyes shut and leaning forward. _It's only six. We have the whole evening ahead of us!_

"Are you stupid, Mana-chan?" Kamiko spat, bringing up the name that scratched the surface of Hotaru's skin.

Replacing her grin with a scowl, Hotaru opened her brown eyes and crossed her arms. "Not my fault you're too weak to deal with the sand siblings."

"You don't even know what happened out there, fathead. Stop talking as if you do."

"C'mon you two," Hachiro stepped in, smiling nervously as he waved his hands. "We're still at the hospital. There's no need to bicker. Besides, Kamiko-chan needs her rest."

" _What?"_ Hotaru groaned. "But I want to go on a mission! Her injuries aren't even major. Right, Ryota-sensei? Can we _please_ go on a mission now?"

"It's too late. We'll have a lot of days ahead of us, even with the training sessions, if you're capable of it." Her teacher replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Are you OK, Kamiko?"

"Yes, thank you, Ryota-sensei. I'll be fine soon enough." said Kamiko softly.

" _What..._ " Hotaru repeated, unconsciously tugging the hem of Hachiro's jacket as she spoke. "But after tomorrow is Chiro-nii's turn..."

Ryota cleared his throat. "Hachiro will surely finish before the sun sets. Count on that."

His words caused Kamiko to growl with clenched teeth. Ryota, hearing this, sighed and slid his hand down his face.

"Hachiro," the jōnin addressed, looking to is student. "Take the girls home. I'll send myself to the Kazekage for any available missions we can do for the upcoming days. You three should know that we aren't requested much from the WindDaimyō, so if there's anything available, Kazekage-sama will surely give it to me."

Hotaru was internally content with his words; however, she didn't outwardly show it. In an instant, Ryota was no longer with them in the room.

" _YES,_ did you hear that Chiro-nii? We get to go on missions!" she squealed, bringing his jacket to her face and squirming subtly underneath it.

Noticing the change in her mood, Hachiro smiled, looking at Kamiko. "Ready to go home?"

* * *

The next day, Team seven were swamped with several D-rank missions, some pried off of other genin teams. They had grown demotivated as the sun began to set, but there Hotaru was, forcing them off their behinds and urging them to continue.

By the end of their day off, Kamiko was sent home and Ryota was the second one to depart. Afterwards, Hotaru and Hachiro spent the rest of the evening together before nightfall closed off the availability of time.

The day after was Hachiro's turn against the sand siblings, which meant that Hotaru and Kamiko were to accompany one another.

 _Manarie, do you remember me?_

 _Why would I remember someone like you, dipstick? Tch, don't think so highly of yourself._

 _But it's me...I'm your friend. Remember?_

 _No. I never want to, either._

Kamiko slept soundly through the night, barely feeling her bruises from yesterday. The clock struck twelve PM when her aunt opened the door to her room and called out for her to have some breakfast.

Groaning, Kamiko turned to the side to where her window was positioned, wondering what her dream could've meant. _What in the world was that?_

"Kamiko, come out! You have visitors." She heard her aunt yell.

 _Visitors? At this time?_ She sat up and rubbed her eyes. _Oh, right. It's Hachiro's turn today, which means..._

Inhaling deeply, she pushed herself off the magenta colored bed, taking one look at herself in the mirror. She brushed her hair so that it wouldn't look like she had just woken up and tidied her coral pajamas.

"Kamiko!"

"Yes, I'm coming!" she groaned under her breath. Walking to her door and turning the knob slowly, she was introduced to the smiling faces of her teammates. _What?_

"Why's _she_ here?" asked Kamiko, pointing at the short girl in front of Hachiro.

"You've really taken your time sleeping, haven't you?" Hotaru grinned with her eyes closed. "It's Chiro-nii's day today, so we're sticking together, dipstick."

"I was tired from the overload of missions we were given yesterday, so you can't blame me for sleeping in, fathead."

"Tch, whatever, dipstick."

Already growing impatient, Kamiko prepared a mouthful for Hotaru to hear. Just then, her aunt walked out of the kitchen at the far end of the house with a tray of food in hand.

"Would you like some food, Hachiro-kun, Hotaru-chan? I just prepared breakfast," she said, placing the tray on the table. Her hair was a tad shade darker than Kamiko's, but her eyes were just as bright green, complementing the shade of her toffee skin.

"Breakfast?" Hotaru laughed. "Did you _just_ wake up?"

"Like I said you fathead," Kamiko defended, grinding her teeth together as her cheeks felt warm. "I was worn-out from the missions!"

"They were all D-rank missions, dipstick. I'm supposed to be a rank lower than you and I didn't even break a sweat!"

Hachiro tuned out their voices as he looked to her aunt and forced his smile to reach his features. "Sure thing, Mitsuru-san. We already had breakfast, but we'd love some lunch." He requested shamelessly.

* * *

After saying grace, Kamiko jerked her chopsticks apart and began eating the steamed rice in front of her, leaning forward as to not let any piece fall to the ground or on her lap. Forcing down her food with water, she looked up at Hachiro siting ahead of her, beside Hotaru. "So...did you two do anything after the missions last night?"

Hotaru and Hachiro glanced at each other, cracking smiles and soon snickering while trying to keep their food in their mouths.

 _I definitely missed something last night. Why doesn't Hachiro invite me out with him like he used to?_ She forced a smile, drinking water to cool down the heat that was snaking inside her. _No problem...he probably forgot._

"So?" Kamiko pushed, her curiosity inflating.

"Not really," Hotaru answered. "Not something you'd be interested in hearing anyway, dipstick."

"I'd like to hear about it then, Hotaru-chan." Mitsuru said, noticing the discomfort in Kamiko's eyes.

Hotaru inhaled, smiling widely as she spoke. Kamiko was no longer paying attention as her conscious mind grew wary of the dream she had before waking up.

 _Was it a warning of some kind?_ She wondered, pushing away her empty plate and excusing herself from the table. Going into her room and shutting the door behind her, she stepped out of her attire and put on the usual coral kimono, plus her weapons pouch. Getting out, the sounds of Hachiro and Hotaru's laughter floated to her ears, turning on a switch of jealousy inside her. A frown formed across her features as she strode to the bathroom.

"I don't think I would've made it out of there alive if it weren't for Chiro-nii." giggled Hotaru.

"You two have amazing chemistry! How long have you been dating?" Mitsuru exclaimed, smiling widely.

The two ahead of her shared a blush before reacting undoubtedly.

"We're not dating." Hachiro beamed, swaying his hands ahead of him.

"He's like a brother to me." Hotaru confirmed.

"You two remind me of my husband and me," Mitsuru sighed, formulating a long story.

Kamiko quickly interjected before her aunt could begin. She clapped her hands, soon laughing anxiously while stooping to look at her teammates. "Hachiro, don't you think you should get going?"

Viewing the clock behind him, he nodded and stood up, bowing to Mitsuru. "Thank you for the meal, but Kamiko-chan's right."

Hotaru stood, her smile waning. "I'll help you with the dishes, Mitsuru-san."

Waving a hand at her, Mitsuru bent low and picked up the plates, stacking them over each other and skillfully balancing them on her hands.

Hachiro took this opportunity to pull Hotaru to the side, near the door where he had to depart. Kamiko shadowed impulsively, eavesdropping closely to what he was saying.

"Don't be rude. Don't cause trouble. And be nice to Kamiko-chan."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever dipstick. Get going already." Hotaru said, rolling her eyes. _As overprotective as usual, this one._

Imitating her, Hachiro rolled his eyes as well. "Take care." He instructed.

"We're in a house, not a battlefield." Hotaru grumbled.

Overlooking her disinclination, he ran his fingers lightly over her face. "Hey, I might never come back. You never know when the last time you'll see me is." He said, tilting her head up at him.

"Don't talk like that. Next thing I know, you'll be strapping me to your back and carrying me around like a puppet because of how clingy you'll get."

He chuckled and turned to look at his other teammate, whom he knew was watching from a fair distance. "Kamiko-chan, mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Solidifying in her position, Kamiko broadened her eyes. Hotaru turned around to give them some privacy, avoiding Kamiko's stare as she marched to the kitchen.

Even though Hotaru didn't look directly at her, it wasn't hard to distinguish the difference in the coloring of her cheeks. _Hm,_ Kamiko assumed nastily. ' _Like a brother' my ass._

"What is it?" she asked, folding her arms under her bust.

"Watch her, would you?" Hachiro's voice was placated but Kamiko couldn't mistake the display of emotions through it.

Letting out a sigh, Kamiko lowered her arms and held her hips. "What's your point?"

Hachiro growled, stepping closer. "Just take care of her."

"Look, if she reminds you of Nirako-chan then—"

" _Kamiko_ ," he suspended her words, an ambiance of threat lacing his severe tone. "Don't bring Nirako up. Just fucking take care of Hotaru."

Not intimidated by his show of manliness, she continued. "Manarie-chan can take care of herself."

"I think we've established that she doesn't like going by that name anymore."

Kamiko rolled her eyes. "I'll call her what I want to."

"Suit yourself. See you, brat."


	20. 18 - Old Friends

_"I learned that everything is fated to eventually disappear."_

* * *

"Eh, that smells so good!" Hotaru exclaimed as she and Kamiko walked down the streets of the village. The shorter girl broke off into a sprint through the crowded streets.

"Mana—H-Hotaru! Where are you going?" yelling, Kamiko activated a run as well. Soon she bumped onto her as she stood stiffly in front of a restaurant.

"It's coming from here!" Hotaru continued, pointing up at the restaurant's sign.

"Don't you hate this place?" Kamiko questioned, arching her left eyebrow.

"I've never even been here, Miko-chan. Come on!" she pulled on to Kamiko's hand and led her into the weakly lit dwelling.

* * *

Both kunoichi were sitting on a table, food in front of them and eyes averted from one another. Kamiko had her doubts on whether Hotaru could afford anything in the restaurant, but the brunette assured her by boasting about how big her house was, disregarding the fact that Hachiro lent her some change.

Kamiko was indeed taken aback by Hotaru's reactions to her surroundings, concluding that her curiosity and fascination to the simplest of things didn't fade over her amnesia. _Maybe she's still the same girl I used to know,_ the redhead thought. _But I remember for sure that Mana—H-Hotaru, hated this place. Mainly because she disliked noodles just like I do; it's almost like a backbone to our friendship, really._

 _"I've never even had noodles," the younger girl shrugged. "Plus it smells so good; I doubt I'd hate it. I don't know what kind of person I was before I forgot everything, but things are looking great from here!"_ Her voice repeated in Kamiko's head.

A half-empty plate of nirmaki rested ahead of Kamiko, while a half-full glass of lemon flavored sparkling water sweated down her fingers. Hotaru's ramen bowl seemed dehydrated, as if she sucked out all the remains in the plate.

"If you like Hachiro, you don't have to hide it," Kamiko said, rummaging through the shelves in her mind on 'what could be a good conversation-starter with a person you once knew and is now, literally, a complete stranger to you'.

Hotaru snapped her head up to where Kamiko drank in front of her, smirking faintly. "Unlike you, I don't care about that so much."

Kamiko crossed her arms. "It's clear that you like him."

"What's clear is how dense you are. I'm nothing like you, get it dipstick?"

Kamiko flinched, clenching her fists. "What do you mean?"

"Obviously, I don't think about whom I'm going to marry or who I want to date, let alone think of what I'll wear the next day or how I'm going to look. I'm not like _you._ "

"Liar," Kamiko spat, leaning forward. "You like that Gaara boy. The jinchūriki."

Hotaru stiffened, a shade of red diffusing from corner to corner on her face. "That's different."

Slamming her hands on the table, Kamiko stood up and grinned down at Hotaru. "Different? Not at all! You think about him a lot, don't you? You wonder how you look when you're around him too, don't you?"

"...Not in the way that you put it..."

"Ha, I knew it. See, we're more alike than you think." Kamiko winked.

"Whatever, dipstick." Hotaru grunted, leaning back on her chair.

A few minutes of silence passed as Kamiko sat down again, comfort coursing through her veins. _At least I found_ some _common ground._

"Why do you hate me anyway?" the younger girl asked, grabbing a hold of her chopsticks once more and picking up one of Kamiko's food without taking her permission. "It's not like I was the one to start this ridiculous rivalry."

Kamiko picked up her glass again. "Things were different before you got amnesia. I..." she hesitated, placing the glass on the table and avoiding Hotaru's gaze. "I was your best friend. We did everything together."

Hotaru blinked curiously. "The only reason we don't anymore is because you treat me like I'm some kind of enemy."

"We both know that that's not the _only_ reason," Kamiko hissed, looking at her through her long lashes. "You obviously can't stand me either."

The brunette shrugged. "Tell me something, Miko-chan; did the thought of training cross your mind at all today? Because that's the only thing I've been thinking about, ever since I went home last night after the D-rank missions we were given."

Gritting her teeth and hardening her gaze, Kamiko responded. "You train an awful lot, honestly. Even before the amnesia; so of course the thought of training came to mind, _knowing_ I was going to spend the day with you."

Widening her eyes, Hotaru's voice went higher with inquisitiveness. "...I used to train a lot even before I...?"

Kamiko nodded, squinting slightly. "You never told me why, but you always dragged me along with you." She cracked a smile, looking away once more. _Maybe she hasn't changed as much as I thought she did._ "Can you tell me _why_ do you train so hard?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hotaru asked. "Because I want to become stronger. One day I'm going to meet my parents and maybe by then, I'll be fit enough to be Kazekage. I don't know what kind of people my parents are or if they're even ninja at all, but the thought of seeing them after all this time...it excites me. I want to make them proud and I want to do that by being able to protect an _entire_ village."

 _Parents...?_ Kamiko mused, looking at Hotaru closely and seeing her brown eyes glint.

"Tell me," Hotaru's leg was bouncing below the table with impatience. "How serious are you about being a kunoichi, Miko-chan?"

Inhaling sharply, Kamiko watched Hotaru raise her hand in means of calling the waiter.

"That's where we're different," she continued, not allowing Kamiko to speak. "That's where we don't fit and why I _don't_ like spending time with you. All you think of is your hair and your nails; the 'cute' chūnin and jōnin that pass by."

"You like Gaara, remember?"

"It's different! It's different that I like him because...it's not about the way he looks, dipstick. Around him, I..." She paused, lowering her arm along with her gaze. "I feel something else. Something strong, something I can't identify. It's like the need to just... _be_ with him - and not in that perverted way in Chiro-nii's books. But..." biting the insides of her lips, Hotaru pulled out the money that Hachiro handed to her from where her water bottle resided. "You probably don't understand."

 _I do, actually,_ thought Kamiko as the image of Hachiro appeared behind her eyes.

"Miko-chan?" Snapping her out of her thoughts, Hotaru's voice came into focus along with the sight of their waiter. The girl with the green eyes nodded and pulled out her share of the payment.

"Well," Hotaru sighed. "I'm going to get my gear and head to the training grounds. You coming, dipstick?"

Pushing her chair out and standing up slowly, Kamiko nodded.

* * *

"Ah damn," Hotaru muttered, looking at her fingers. "My nails are so short. How do you grow yours so long?"

"You're going to tell me we're not alike?" Kamiko smiled, looking at her own nails.

"Come on dipstick, give me _some_ credit. My hair's naturally like this as well as my face, which I'm satisfied with. But these nails..." Hotaru cringed, pretending to gag.

"I'll teach you how to take care of them, and how to take care of yourself a _lot_ more. Why the sudden interest?"

"Oh, you know. To beat the living crap out of some people and tear out their throats." The brunette replied casually, grinning.

Kamiko let out a laugh, enjoying this moment with her former best friend. It brought back memories to her mind, making her feel warm inside. _She's not different at all. Her choices are her own but she's still the same girl I knew back then. I just hope that she doesn't..._

"I'm kidding," Hotaru giggled. "Just our enemies, of course."

... _Lose herself like she used to._


	21. 19 - Forming Bonds

_"Wash the poison from off my skin;_

 _Show me how to be whole again."_

* * *

 _Don't mess this up!_ She thought to herself, pulling onto each arrow tightly. _Focus, just stay focused._

Prancing out of the boulder she hid behind, Hotaru took notice of the four targets Kamiko skillfully placed around her. To her relief, there were three in front of her on the ground and another one ahead, on a tree. Shutting her eyes, she released the three arrows in her grip and successfully pierced through the targets below her.

Feet meeting the floor, she swiftly turned to where she once hid and found another target, hanging on another tree. "One!" she exclaimed as she let go of an arrow, quickly pulling out another one and letting it go after turning to the other direction. "Two!"

Instantly jumping off again, she hid behind a tree on her left, trying to sense Kamiko's presence. _The hell? Where is she?_

"HA!" Kamiko's voice was suddenly heard, shrill and playful. Spinning, Hotaru found her teammate a few inches ahead of her. Shuriken flew to the brunette's direction, cutting through her body and hitting the tree behind her.

 _Crud,_ Hotaru thought to herself. _If it weren't for the Hiden, I would be dead right now._

"Don't rely on that too much, fathead," another Kamiko chimed, emerging from the bushes on Hotaru's right. "You let your guard down _and_ you didn't conceal yourself. Shinobi tactics, Hotaru-chan; ninjutsu. Use it and conceal your presence!"

"Dipstick, don't go around telling me about shinobi tactics." She lunged herself off the ground to get a better view of the two Kamikos', seeing a third one appear behind her.

"Jeez," she grumbled, gliding from one branch to another as she pulled out another arrow. "You like annoying me, don't you dipstick?"

"You bet I do!"

Twirling while still airborne, Hotaru sent the arrow to her comrade's direction, only to reveal that it was one of her clones. "Amateur move, dipstick!"

"Say that when you beat me, fathead!"

The words thrown at Hotaru fueled her, making her pull out multiple arrows. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed that there were exactly three girls coming after her. She half-smiled and swiftly took a sharp turn to the left, hindering her hops while rotating to face the spot where the Kamikos' would gather.

"Gotcha." she snickered, pulling on the arrows straightaway and releasing them as soon as the three girls were in sight. But to her dismay, each of them disappeared in a puff of smoke. _Crud, I was fooled by a simple bunshin jutsu!_

"Pay attention." Kamiko said from behind Hotaru, throwing more shuriken at her.

"You already know that's not going to work, so stop messing around, dipstick!" now angry, Hotaru dove to where Kamiko stood and tackled her, sending them both to the ground. A smile spread on Kamiko's face before she disappeared.

 _Again?!_

Throwing a dart directly to Hotaru's neck, Kamiko giggled. "Hachiro told me that you haven't mastered your _Hiden_ technique."

"Ugh, DIPSTICK CHIRO!" the younger girl exclaimed, falling to her face as drowsiness abruptly coursed through her veins.

The redhead finally came into view and slowly strode to Hotaru, from the bushes on the left.

Hotaru grunted, feeling her body going numb. "What did you do to me?!"

"Wow, didn't expect that to happen," Kamiko muttered, crouching low to Hotaru's side. "I sent a tranquilizing dart to your neck. But don't worry, it's a minor tranquilizer and you'll be fine in a half-hour."

"That's dirty, dipstick-Miko," the brunette hissed as her body felt heavy, preventing her from performing even the slightest of movements.

Kamiko shrugged. "Shinobi do what they need to."

* * *

Fifteen minutes of silence passed as Kamiko sat in front of Hotaru, watching her like she did back at the restaurant.

"What?" the girl on the ground demanded, her annoyance still in play. "You wanna say something? Say it."

Wincing at the tone of her voice, Kamiko cleared her throat. "Are you going to tell me why you train so hard?"

Hotaru let out a sigh. "I already told you, dipstick. Next question?"

"There's something else you're not telling me. I know this because I know _you;_ your lips twitched, which meant that you were biting it from the inside, which also means that there's something you're not telling me."

Hotaru let out an exaggerated groan. "Jeez, you and Chiro-nii are so annoying; I don't know who to get annoyed with more."

There was a pause in the atmosphere before Hotaru surrendered, shutting her eyes. "I want to become stronger."

"We've established that already."

" _No,_ you don't understand. I want to become stronger."

"...And...?"

Sighing once more, Hotaru opened her eyes. "When I was brought back to the village, they took me to Yondaime-sama's office. Back then, I didn't entirely know who he was but later on, it came back to me. When I realized that I had just faced the Kazekage, my heart sank."

Kamiko crossed her legs and rested her head on her palms. "Why?"

"Because he looked at me...like I had done something wrong; like I was someone worthless, intruding his village, like a bug that needed to be squashed. That's why I want to become strong; to somehow prove to him that I am not some bug and that me choosing to be a kunoichi isn't a mistake, or a useless feat."

"Why does it bother you to the point of pushing yourself beyond your limits?" Kamiko asked, vexed by the irrational reasons.

"Because Ryota-sensei looks at me the same way," she said softly. "Also Kankurō-kun and...And Gaara-kun."

Clicking her tongue, Kamiko stood up and held Hotaru by the arms, pulling her off the ground. "You don't need them to look at you differently to reassure yourself of your strength, fathead."

Biting the insides of her lips, Hotaru hummed softly in response. "It's hard when you're crazed by the Kazekage, or rather, the idea of the Kazekage."

"You're falling for his father too?" Kamiko teased, shoving Hotaru slightly and making her smile.

"What can I say...I have a thing for _them_."

* * *

Trudging to training grounds Hachiro was meant to be in, Hotaru constantly shoved Kamiko away from her, in attempt to walk a straight line without her help.

"So, what have we learned today?" asked Kamiko, pride inflating her head.

Growling under her breath, Hotaru answered. "Pay attention. Conceal self."

"And...?"

"And don't rely on either Kekkei Genkai or Hiden abilities. Focus more on strategy and become faster."

"Right you are." Kamiko cheered.

Grumbling, Hotaru rolled her eyes. "I thought you said that stuff was _minor."_

"It _is_ minor. Your body's simply weak to it."

"Tch...Dipstick," she pulled out her water bottle and drank out of it furiously until it was empty. Noticing movement ahead, Hotaru paused as an extensive grin took place of her scowl.

"Already?!" exclaimed Kamiko, watching her comrade and the other team come into view at the center of the brightly lit horizon. "He took like..."

"An hour?" Hotaru continued the sentence, a smile present in her voice. _Chiro-nii was always the best of us._

The ones ahead were panting slightly as they advanced, though Ryota, Baki and Gaara were not one of them.

At the sight of Gaara did Hotaru's smile fade, making her feel small again.

"Do you like him or are you afraid of him?" Kamiko asked.

"I'm not afraid of him. He just makes me nervous."

"Butterflies, sweaty palms and fast heart-rate?"

Hotaru gulped. "Butterflies?"

"That feeling over there," the redhead pointed to Hotaru's stomach. "That feeling where you're not sure if you want to throw up or...go to the bathroom."

The younger girl looked up at her friend. "You know this feeling?"

Jeering, Kamiko smirked. "You keep making fun of me about how much I think of boys and whatnot, yet you're also asking me such a question?"

Pausing momentarily, Hotaru set her gaze ahead of them once more. "I always thought you felt something superficial for them, dipstick."

"Looks play a big role," Kamiko swooned, thinking about men that had once passed her by within the village. "But it's more than that."

"Ah...OK." Hotaru chuckled before she started running to the ones ahead of her. "Temari! Chiro-nii! Gaara-kun!" she waved.


	22. First Arc: End

_"I just want you to know who I am."_

* * *

Temari looked up; an unconscious smile playing along her features.

 _I can't treat Gaara-kun the way others do,_ Hotaru thought as she approached them. _Even though I get_ this _nervous around him, I need to treat him the way I would treat others. Giving him the wrong impression is the last thing I want to do._

"Chiro-nii, you finished a lot earlier than that dipstick!" Hotaru exclaimed, looking up to meet his eyes.

Hachiro hadn't been sweating much, but a few beads were trailing down his face. Trivial bruises were spotted along his tan skin, though Hotaru was too focused on how early he had finished, soon asking him how it went.

Standing upright, Hachiro looked to his left and nodded at Temari and Kankurō. "Not bad. Could've finished earlier but there were some...difficulties," his eyes landed at Gaara for a split-second before looking at Hotaru once more.

"What was your time limit?" approaching Hotaru's back, Kamiko directed her question to Hachiro.

"Hmm...Ten." he mused.

"But he finished in seven." Baki said.

"Seven? Seven what? Ten what?!" Hotaru asked hastily.

"Minutes, Aru-chan." Hachiro sent a light fist to her jaw, tilting her head to her left slightly.

" _Minutes?"_ her eyes widened further, expressing her astonishment vividly.

" _Seven?"_ Kamiko inserted, just as surprised.

"Honestly," Kankurō grunted. "This bastard's label is a mere lie-jaan. He's nowhere near genin level."

Wiping the sweat off his face as he smiled, Hachiro turned to the middle sand sibling, shrugging. "That's why we don't focus on what 'level' you're given the name of; that's why we're taught not to underestimate."

"Still," Temari continued for her little brother. "Pitting us against you helps _us_ in the long-run. I suppose Kazekage-sama knew what he was doing when he put our teams together. Like Hachiro said; we're taught not to underestimate," she looked at Hotaru, half-smiling. "It's been a while since Hotaru and I fought; I wonder how much better she's gotten."

Kankurō scoffed, disbelieving his older sister's words. "You're mocking her, right? I've seen you two spar and honestly, the kid is no match for any of us-jaan."

Hotaru gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes at the boy with Kabuki-makeup. Before she could defend herself though, Temari did it for her.

"That was years ago. I can't even determine how strong she's become; I'm sure a lot stronger than she used to be."

"Tch, whatever," Kankurō scoffed. "I still don't think she can beat me."

"Well Kurō-kun, we'll have to see about that, wouldn't we?" Hotaru grinned. Her attention was soon reverted to the littlest brother standing on left, at the edge of the team.

Gaara's pride was already overflowing, though the wrath he felt towards his teacher's mate suppressed most, if not all, that he was feeling. _I was so close_.

 _All the more reason for Ryota to stop you,_ Shukaku mumbled. _Make sure you kill him._

 _Yes, mother,_ Gaara responded, looking up to see Hotaru staring at him the way she did a day ago.

"So Gaara-kun," Hotaru chimed. "How was _your_ time with Chiro-nii?"

He wondered why she added such an honorific to Hachiro's name, when they weren't remotely related to one another. Assuming it to be one of the things he wouldn't understand, he crossed his arms and blinked at her, shrugging. "More or less."

She tip-toed her way to his side, further taking hold of his attention.

 _What could she possibly want?_ He thought to himself.

"Been going on missions?" she asked, clicking her heels together and looking to her feet.

He nodded, unwilling for the conversation to continue.

"If it makes a difference at all," she said quickly but clearly. "I'm really looking forward to being with you. I mean not _with_ you, but..." she turned the other way before continuing to speak, avoiding his eyes as a sigh slightly relaxed her insides. "I'm looking forward to training with you."

Gaara grit his teeth and tightened the grip around his arms, directing his gaze elsewhere before giving her a subtle nod.

The smile on her lips stretched slightly as she lifted her gaze to Temari, who called out to her with a wave of her hand. Striding to the blonde, Hotaru was soon pulled further from the group.

"Good to know you're still breathing." said Temari, tucking a strand of Hotaru's brown hair behind Hotaru's ear before placing her hands on her shoulders. "Training enough? Eating well?"

Laughing softly, Hotaru shook her head. "Why are you so worried about me all of a sudden, Temari?"

She crossed her arms. "Don't make such a stupid mistake. I'm not worried about you at all; just wanted to know about a few things."

Gaara's words from the day before yesterday repeated in Hotaru's head, making her say them out loud in her own way. "If you're trying to find ways to beat me or prep your brother for our training after tomorrow, stop, because I'm not saying anything."

A smirk lifted Temari's lips. _I wasn't even trying to get information, but I see that she has been training. Her sharp response says so._ "You caught me." she shrugged, sighing.

"Ha, knew it," Hotaru closed her eyes and nodded, grinning before she looked at the blonde once more. "What about you? Have you been well, dipstick?"

Narrowing her eyes at the brunette, the expression on Temari's face turned sour. "You're lucky you're cute, _chiii-bi."_

"Oye, I'm almost your height so you can't call me that, _baaaka."_

"I don't even remember why I pulled you aside," Temari said through gritted teeth. "You can die during our training session for all I care."

Hotaru slapped a hand to her chest, faking a gasp. Before she could speak, Ryota's voice was heard.

"Let's go." he ordered, calling out to the youngest genin in his team.

She turned to look at him, biting the insides of her lips. "I'll see you soon, Temari."

"That you will," the blonde smiled, nodding at Hotaru before she ran to her team. _You're a strange one and I'm not sure I like that, mainly because it puts me in a place I'm not used to being in..._

The scent of her teammates floated to her nostrils, making her pause in movement and look up at them before following as they walked away.

* * *

"I advise you to keep your guard up." Baki directed his words to Gaara as they glided their way to fulfill another mission

"OK," Temari muttered, playing along. "We won't underestimate her. We don't know what she may be planning either, so it's best to stay out of her way. _" Hotaru's not the type of person to ever hurt anyone intentionally, but this is for her sake. I don't want_ him _to be responsible for her death._

"Psht, that kid couldn't hurt us even if she tried-jaan," Kankurō said, not entirely grasping the situation at hand. "What could she possibly do?"

His words encouraged Gaara's exclusive feelings, letting him speak. "Precisely; she can't do a thing to us; to _me."_ a sly smile almost tugged at the corners of his lips.

 _Oh..._ Kankurō realized, but only after Temari lightly pinched his arm. Trying to redeem himself, he spoke again. "B-but you know Gaara, maybe it is better that you – _we_ stay away. After all, what satisfaction would you receive from _that_ kid _?"_

For sure, Gaara was not as stupid or as simple-minded as they thought him to be. Their reverse-psychology would never work on him.

 _Tch, trying to steal away some of your prey,_ Shukaku grumbled, hatred growing strong. _Every meal counts no matter how small the portion is._

 _Their plans won't work on me,_ Gaara thought back to his inner demon. _My plans will always see through to the end._

Baki noticed the shift in mood, looking back at his youngest student and giving him a fair warning. "She's a kunoichi of the village therefore it would be wiser of you to stay away than approach her. I'm not saying that she can harm you but we don't know of her abilities and anything can be pulled off. Ryota-san is no fool either."

"Her _Hiden_ jutsu is her only defense mechanism," Gaara hissed. "It's not invincible and she can't hurt me. The water isn't thick enough to entirely break through my sand."

 _"Still,"_ Baki said gravely, keeping the rest of his sentence to himself. _Still, she's from the village. Attacking her would simply put all three of us in danger and Kazekage-sama will surely not let it slide. Plus, we don't know any of her techniques nor does she know any of ours – underestimating her might put_ us _at a disadvantage._

 _He's already becoming unstable,_ Temari thought. _Bringing Hotaru into the spotlight at this time would ultimately lead to her death and maybe even worse...her teammates' deaths as well._

Moving in silence, Gaara picked up his pace to meet Baki's eyes. "Still?" he questioned.

Swallowing slowly, Baki looked away. "Still, it would be best to steer clear of her."

Gaara almost rolled his eyes. "With our teams paired up, it would be difficult."

"Other than going on joint missions or training sessions, you are not to see her." His teacher ordered. "Think of it as another mission you need to complete."

 _Another mission?_ Gaara thought, seeing some advantage to it from that angle. _Maybe...maybe._


	23. Second Arc: Commence

_"Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal."_

* * *

Gliding along the village rooftops, Team Seven headed towards the Kazekage's office.

"I hope he doesn't give us a bunch of D-rank missions again." Hotaru rolled her eyes, biting the insides of her lips.

"Are you sure you're in any shape to go on any missions anyway?" Kamiko asked Hachiro.

Hachiro looked at her for a moment. "It was nothing; you don't have to worry about it. Unlike _you_ ," a grin stretched his lips. "I can go all day through missions after a mediocre training session like that."

Taking this as a personal insult, Kamiko growled. "I was given a longer time limit, fathead."

"And you exceeded that time limit and came out completely done for." Hachiro laughed, Ryota joining him.

"By a minute or two!" she continued, frustrated.

"Don't you mean ten?"

" _No!"_

Hotaru smiled, keeping her laughter to herself. _Without_ him _, I will lose track of who I am. Without them, I am nothing._

* * *

Her heart fluttered at the sight of the man ahead of her, clad in a navy robe with an off-white large collar cascading down his shoulders.

His gaze was set upon the village from where the window hung; heart in copper coils of dissatisfaction as he rested his chin between the fingers of his right hand.

Team seven bowed in respect and before Ryota could say a word, the fourth Kazekage beat him to the punch. "Back for more missions?"

In spite of his coldness, Hotaru couldn't help but feel some sort of fondness towards Rasa, the fourth Kazekage. After all, since her goal was to be in his place someday, how could she see him in any dimmer light?

Ryota scratched his head lightly. "Yes, Kazekage-sama, if there are any left for my team."

Rotating fully to the genin team, Rasa brought his hands down and folded them atop his chest, striding to his rightful seat.

"Unfortunately," he began, looking through a scroll on his desk. "I assigned what was left of the D-rank missions to the other genin teams. Your team cleared a lot more than they have yesterday and because of the drop in clients...there isn't much I can provide you with."

"I understand. Thank you, Kazekage-sama." Ryota bowed slightly and gestured towards the door, but his youngest member did _not_ want to leave just yet.

"Yondaime-sama," softly said Hotaru, stepping forward to get a better look at him. He looked much like his sons; auburn hair stood at angles on his head while his brown eyes narrowed in a way that reminded Hotaru of Kankurō. "Is it possible to give us something...of a higher rank?"

" _Hotaru!"_ Kamiko hissed as she grabbed hold of Hotaru's left wrist. "What are you doing?"

Ignoring her teammate and pulling her limb out of her grasp, Hotaru took another step forward. "Hachiro-nii and Kamiko-chan are not genin _level_ , so it would be safe to give us something higher, right?"

"Quit it!" Kamiko growled.

Rasa was indeed familiar with Hachiro and Kamiko, acknowledging their capabilities a while back. He wasn't so sure of Hotaru though, understanding her background in a much darker shade.

"Out of the question," Rasa said, reclining slightly on his chair and looking at Hotaru. "Genin are assigned for genin missions; they learn from it and then continue to learn until they're judged upon and seen as more, soon graduating as chūnin if they're worthy of that title. Besides," he shrugged, casting his eyes to his desk before steadily shutting them. "There's a scarcity of shinobi and kunoichi in this village. Having your team go out to face danger of any kind would be reckless of me to do; as consequences, one or more of you could be killed." He opened his eyes and looked at Hachiro, who narrowed his in return.

"Yondaime-sama!" Hotaru insisted, eyes wide and glassy. The voices of Kamiko and Ryota were heard clearly in the background, but she chose to ignore them. "With progress, we become better shinobi. With more practice and more challenges, that is how we become stronger. They teach this to us in the academy, Yondaime-sama. Will you please think about it?"

A subtle pull lifted the right corner of Rasa's lips, admiring the look in her eyes.

"Shinobi are those who endure," said Hotaru, features unwavering. "Shinobi are those who endure even the most unreasonable circumstances."

"You don't have to tell me of my own teachings," Rasa was now half-smiling rather than giving off an unpleasant smirk. He unraveled another scroll on his desk, one revealing to be a scroll of C-rank missions. "If you insist and truly believe that you can handle missions of a higher rank, then I'll give you one."

Hotaru's eyes widened as a grin cut her face from ear to ear. "YES! You won't be disappointed, Yondaime-sama!"

He couldn't help but let his smile stretch, sending his eyes to her approving _and_ disapproving team.

The critical regard exuded from her teacher, Ryota. "I'm not sure she's ready, Kazekage-sama."

"Huh?!" Hotaru turned to him sharply, eyebrows pulling up at her forehead. "I've been training non-stop ever since I came back here!"

"How do I know you'll be able to endure through a C-rank?" he argued.

"Because it's my motto! I'm a ninja; I fight to survive and I live to endure. I become stronger through resolve and pure intentions – if that's not going to help me push through whatever's given to me...then I'm not fit to be a ninja!"

Kamiko and Hachiro stood by, observing closely while a stubborn atmosphere enclosed them.

Rasa's smile simmered into a fairly rapt smirk once more. "Ryota, if you don't believe in your own students, how do you expect them to believe in themselves?"

A blush powdered Hotaru's cheeks as she turned to Rasa again, eyes glinting with willpower.

"Judging from her strong will, she takes after her parents quite well."

Something inside the youngest genin sparked a fuse, making her eyes soften slightly. "You...you knew my parents?"

Nodding, Rasa's smirk faded and his eyes settled. "But that's something to discuss at a different time. For now, your mission is..."

The team perked up and squared their shoulders.

"To go on a hunt."

"A hunt?" Hachiro questioned, arching an eyebrow.

Rasa pointed to the scroll, interpreting the words aloud. "The village restaurants' as well as grocery stores are running out of certain meat products."

Hotaru let out an overstated exhale. "With all due respect Yondaime-sama, it sounds like a D-rank in disguise of a C-rank mission."

"And what does your sensei say?" Rasa asked them, sending his eye to Ryota.

Their gazes followed to their teacher, who cleared his throat. "Underestimation shows naught but weakness."

"With that said, I'll assign you to this mission and not another," Rasa continued. "You'll be going after rare breeds of two types of animals. You'll have to travel across the Country of Wind and near to the Country of Fire. These breeds are so rare that other villages will indeed be searching for them as well.

"I can't guarantee any mishaps and you won't completely evade combatting other shinobi, so keep your guards up and stay alert." he twirled the scroll back once he was done reading off of it.

"What mammal breed are we talking about?" asked Hachiro.

"One of a bird and another of a pig," Rasa explained. "They are both largest in size among the rest of their breed, reaching up to almost the size of three large camels."

Hotaru's eyes extended gradually, along with her mouth dropping.

"What kind of bird and pig, Kazekage-sama?" Hachiro asked.

"The bird or rather, the duck, known as the Scarlet Ibis, can be found along large river banks; either in the sky or resting on the surface of the water. Here's an image," he handed out a square sheet of thick paper to the closest genin, Hotaru. "It's very alert since most of its kin was wiped out by hunters as well."

"It's so pretty," Hotaru slurred, staring at the image that consisted of a Flamingo-looking duck with pure crimson feathers. "What's it hunted for?"

"Other than its feathers being used for superficial purposes, it's known to have the most delicious of aves meats," Ryota elucidated. "I've seen it before during one of my missions to Konoha."

"Good, you have a guide then." Rasa said.

"And what of the other mammal?" Hachiro inquired.

"A wild warthog, known as Babirusa's Fang," Rasa handed her another image. "It's noticeable from its size and mostly its two large canines at the front of its snout. If we're lucky, our beast grinds its tusks. If not, it's probably already dead."

"Why's that?"

Ryota was the one to answer Kamiko's question. "A Babirusa's Fang's tusks curves up and backward, oftentimes piercing through its own skull, resulting in its death."

"As soon as the hunt is over," continued Rasa. "Report back to me and your team will send the carcasses to the assigned farmers for further taking care of. Here's a scroll for the Scarlet Ibis."

"What about the Babirusa's Fang?" Hotaru wondered.

"Unfortunately, a scroll for that creature has not been provided by the client. Find your way around it." he allowed himself a wider smirk.

"Not a problem," Hotaru grinned, stepping back in line with her team. "We'll be back in no time!"

"Speaking of which, Kazekage-sama," Ryota mumbled. "How long will the journey take?"

"The Ibis is usually out during the nighttime and from dusk till dawn. The warthog is seen during the early afternoons. You will most likely reach your destination tomorrow evening if not later." Rasa answered, crossing his arms. "Are you ready for this mission, Team seven?"

" _Hai!"_ the three genin exclaimed in unison, bowing before turning to walk out the door.

 _Promising generation,_ Rasa thought, internally smiling to himself.


	24. 20 - Mess

_"Still dancing with your demons."_

* * *

"I suppose our training session'll have to wait, huh?" Hotaru smirked at the blonde in front of her, wiggling an arched eyebrow. "That gives you enough time to prepare for _me_."

Both teams stood at the entrance of Sunagakure, already atop the stairs that led to the outside of the village. Sun still set high in afternoon warmth, a slight gust of wind whistled among the genins. It was indeed a merciful breeze, given the climate they had to travel in.

"You mean the opposite, right-jaan?" Kankurō's lips twitched in an upward grimace.

"We'll see," the brunette's beam continued as her eyes rolled to where her love interest stood. Almost as if she were blanketed in cuddles, her cheeks grew faintly pink and her brown eyes glistened against the ice-cold glance he gave her. To bring about more of the obvious affection she felt towards him, her smile contracted, softening her sharp, gritty features.

But after asking the upcoming question, her gaze budged to her blonde best friend once more. "Are you going on a mission, too?"

Her best friend immediately took notice of the change in Hotaru's voice range, not being the only one to notice. After all, who could possibly miss it?

Other than her target, of course.

"Yeah." Temari simply answered.

"What rank? We're going on a _C-rank_ mission." Hotaru half-smiled smugly.

The blonde chuckled. " _A_ -rank."

"…And I thought _we_ were sparkplugs..." Hotaru mumbled, turning to her teammates.

"Don't worry-jaan," Kankurō said. "Kazekage-sama will come around after you've had your emotion training."

"Hmmm..." Hotaru droned, hanging her head low.

* * *

"H-Hotaru-san!" a boy ran up to the team before they could run out of the narrow opening. His cheeks were red and his face was sweaty.

Breathing in with every step he took, he was soon in front of the girl he called out to, crouching over his knees and running his hands through his drenched brown hair.

To the naked eye, the two standing in front of each other could be mistaken for siblings.

But that was something Hotaru would never even dream of wanting. Sighing, she eyed the all-too-familiar boy, suspiciously and unknowingly crushing the stem of a flower in his right hand.

 _Don't tell me that's for me..._ Hotaru thought, wanting to desperately run the other way. _Don't tell me this dipstick's going to make a move. Not now. Not here. Not in front of_ him _._

"What do you want, Kazu-kun?" she didn't even bother uttering the full name of the hopeful Zannen Kazuhiro; much less ask him the question aloud.

"Hotaru-san, I came to wish you luck on your mission. Please accept this flower; I hope that it brings you to the light if you ever find yourself in darkness." He rambled.

His target however, only expressed slight discomfort and nodded to him, forcing a smile to her face. _For goodness sake..._

"Thank you, Kazu-kun. Pray that I don't die!" she joked. _No, actually, pray that I_ do _die. Freaking dipstick._

Chuckles of genins surrounded her vividly, making her blush in utter embarrassment. _Ugghhh..._

The eyes of her admirer widened as he began to speak of her in terms of praise.

"Let's go." Ryota ordered, not caring for the boy speaking gibberish.

 _Thank. You. Ryota-sensei!_

* * *

"How long do you think it's going to go on for?" the little brunette asked as she crawled to the entrance of a miniature cave they had no choice but to stay in.

Team seven rested within the dark hollow after their long journey across the Country of Wind. A sand storm appeared last minute, hindering their way. But this was a good thing; since Hotaru had been begging for a pit stop nonstop since they left Suna.

Before they got settled in, Ryota performed a camouflage and protection technique around the little opening, in case any shinobi were to enter. From the outside, the cave looked like another dune of sand.

After the storm smashed onto them ever so rudely, Ryota summoned a jack-rabbit known as Ye-ikku, who led them into the cave they were now in. The man sat cross-legged at the end of the cave, trying his best to fix up a fire. The other two genin placed their belongings on the right wall of the cave, in order to assist their sensei.

"Hours," the eldest among them answered Hotaru's question, rubbing two small pieces of wood together in hopes for a spark. "This definitely delays us."

"Not really," said Hachiro, running his fingers through his hair as he wiped the sweat on his face. "We were supposed to reach at dusk, right? We'll reach by midnight – like Aru-chan said; no big deal."

The petit brunette couldn't take her eyes off the entrance, fascinated by the howls of wind and the tsunamis of sand.

"Ya need 'nythin' else, Ryota?" Ye-ikku asked, scratching the back of his right ear with his long foot.

A sigh emerged from the bottom of Ryota's lungs. "A packet of matches would be great."

"Wait, couldn't Hotaru perform fire jutsus or something?" Kamiko wondered, purposely raising her voice so that her teammate could hear her.

Turning around and crossing her legs, Hotaru slid over to the center of the cave, where the team had placed their twigs in a pyramid. "I'm terrible at fire release. I spend most my time on water release techniques."

"But we've trained with fire before," the denim-haired boy stated. "You know the basics."

"I only know _one_ jutsu," Hotaru shrugged. "And it's only at its beginner stages. I mean, it's barely a spark!"

"We don't need a large flame; just a little to get some light going." encouraged Ryota.

"Hm..." she fake-pondered, biting the insides of her lips.

"This is no time to be picky!" Hachiro shouted, smacking the back of her head. "Do the damn fire!"

"OK, OK! Jeez Hachiro-nii. Relax!" she brought her hands together and began to perform a hand seal, but abruptly paused.

"...What?" Hachiro questioned, arching an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

She scratched the back of her neck, forcing on a smile as sweat dripped down the side of her head. "I, uh...I forgot how to do it."

Her teammate's eyes widened and their faces went blank.

"How could you forget?!" they both screamed, smacking the back of her head again.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Hotaru still forced a smile. "Sorry...?"

Hachiro rubbed his head. "Lucky for you, I happen to remember them."

Slapping her hands together, Hotaru genuinely smiled. "You'll tell me, right, Chiro-nii? Yeah, yeah?!"

"As long as you try to remember it!" he shouted again & smacked her, again.

"Ow...I will! I promise; don't be such a dipstick, Chiro-nii," she pouted, crossing her arms. "I remember the chakra control and everything else, just not the hand formations."

Letting out a sigh, Hachiro brought his hands together. "Tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger."

"That's simpler than I thought," she smiled, squaring her shoulders and forming the seals as she kept an eye on her chakra. " _Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!"_

"G-Gōkakyū?!" Ryota exclaimed to himself, abruptly flying against the back wall of the cave, shielding his face.

"I'm outta 'ere." the jackrabbit said with wide eyes, soon poofing out of existence.

Cupping her palm in front of her mouth, Hotaru blew out a very small amount of fire, directing it to the mountain of wood.

Hachiro couldn't help but chuckle at his superior; the flame lighting up along with his features.

"You need practice." He told her as he shoved her.

"I know!" she stuck her tongue out to him.

* * *

The boy with navy hair studied the steady flames, recalling what had happened before they sat in the cave. Hotaru found out that he and Kamiko had a total of twelve A-rank missions, which led to her shouting at them for still being genins.

This caused both, Kamiko and Hachiro to truly regret their past mistakes; failing the chūnin exams twice and not practicing enough to reach their full potentials, thus severing the level of their abilities. Hotaru's outburst also gave them hope that the village might finally recognize them as chūnin level ninja.

 _"In order to be promoted to chūnin, your abilities need to be recognized by the village superiors," Ryota explained. "And failing two times in a row doesn't help. Hachiro's quite strong but because he's extremely discouraged, he's not qualified to be a chūnin. Kamiko needs to train more but because she chooses not to, showing how she's not very serious about becoming a chūnin, is why she hasn't been promoted either. Her lack of respect towards her superiors also gives her much less of a chance."_

 _Even though Ryota had only met them a few days ago, he could observe that much out of them._

 _Hachiro grew uncomfortable at the topic. "Unplanned things happen sometimes," he lowered his hands and folded them across his chest, silver eyes hardening. "They happen and they just...change everything. Your reasons, your motivation and the path you paved so clearly. It becomes a blur and then you just...stray."_

 _His words gave Hotaru some disenchantment; therefore she tried to change his views._

 _"It's not that simple, Aru-chan. My motto is not like yours, nor like Suna's. Sometimes the path changes because of the unplanned happenings." A sigh slipped past his lips and his eyes softened when he looked down at her. "Besides, if I had become a chūnin, I would've never been paired up with you." He smiled._

He let out a sigh, watching Hotaru walk around the cave aimlessly.

 _It's good having you around, Aru-chan._


	25. 21 - Hachiro's Solicitude

_"Searching for a sweet surrender."_

* * *

"HEY! Check me out." Hotaru exclaimed, smiling with her back turned to her teammates. As soon as she turned around, Hachiro spat out whatever water he had in his mouth and began to laugh. Kamiko's cheeks went pink and Ryota simply had his palm meet with his face.

Hotaru wasn't as mature as she thought she was; she still had the innocence of a child, but to contradict that innocence was her blessed, almost completely-perverted mind.

"I'm Kamiko," she teased, groping her enlarged chest and squeezing slightly. Before she could continue mocking her teammate, said redhead screeched at her.

"I don't talk like that, fathead!" she blushed, clenching her fists. "I don't even _look_ like that! I'm not that... _big!"_

Wiping his lips and forcing his laughter away, Hachiro asked, "What the heck – how did you do that?"

Pulling out her index finger, Hotaru grinned. " _Hiden._ It does more than just protect me. I can expand whichever part of my body that I want to. It is, after all, a whole body technique," she pushed her breast together before continuing, practically fascinated by her manipulated assets. "I can modify anything that I want to and transform my body parts for whatever seems suitable!"

"And you choose to do that?!" Kamiko shrieked.

"What? Don't like it?" she joked before running to Hachiro's backpack, already feeling the heaviness of her chest.

The silver-eyed boy nudged his redheaded teammate. He knew how irritated she gets when Hotaru does something to embarrass her, or simply how irritated she gets by Hotaru in general.

Kamiko opened her mouth to rant but she was cut off by Hotaru from behind. "I've got to hand it to you, dipstick," she grumbled through a mouthful. "It must be hard to train with these things weighing you down."

"Where did you get that?" Hachiro questioned, eyeing a bag of chips in her hands and watching with narrowed eyes as she messily ate from it.

"I packed it in your backpack before we left," the brunette smiled widely, licking her fingers as she spoke. "Can't travel without snacks. Would you like one?"

Hachiro simply shook his head at her offer.

"What else did you bring?" her teacher's voice was heard, low in bashfulness but clear enough.

"I think I got three or four more bags of these, a bottle of juice and bottles of water; also, a bento for each of us."

"Ah..." Hachiro realized, closing his eyes. "That's why my bag's so heavy. Thanks a lot, Aru-chan." He said sarcastically.

"No problem!" she grinned with chip crumbs surrounding her lips, giving him a-thumbs up.

* * *

The night was getting darker as the lights of the moon and stars disappeared. Hotaru grew weary after her jaw workout and rested beside her best friend, falling asleep as her body reverted to the way it originally was.

His silver eyes simply filled with comfort at her calm state as he lifted her off the ground to place her into her assigned sleeping bag.

Their superior was also asleep, at the far end of the cave.

"So, you love her, don't you?" Kamiko questioned the boy on her left; green eyes glinting against the bright yellow flames. Her enquiry was rather aggressive, and Hachiro was no fool to her jealousy.

"Yes," he said, drawing circles in the sand with a twig. "What's your point?"

Kamiko shrugged. "No point; just wondering. Why don't you tell her? By the way she looks at you; your feelings _must_ be mutual."

A snicker vibrated his shoulders. _We're really having this conversation, eh?_ "It's not like that, Kamiko-chan," he yawned, his eyelids drooping slightly. "I love her like I love you, like I loved Nirako-chan, like I love my mom or Yuji. I love her like I love the village. It's really not more than that; she was the universe ever since I laid my eyes on her.

"She was in an alley all alone. Her pajamas had spots of blood on them, a few tears here and there. The moment she looked up at me, I instantly knew that I had to protect her." he smiled softly to himself. He had confessed because he didn't exactly care for how others saw it; after all, he wasn't ashamed of how he felt. It wasn't something he needed to be ashamed of to begin with. _Like a sister, a mother, a child or a lover. An absolute, an ultimate._

"Unlike Nirako?" Kamiko asked.

"Look," he said firmly, slightly bothered. "Nirako-chan was the one I wanted to marry; the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We were young and... _So_ , very naïve. I love her and I'll continue to love her, but the truth is that...she's gone; has been for a year now. So, I'd really appreciate it if you don't bring her name up – which you do, _a lot."_

"Sorry, can't help it sometimes." Kamiko grumbled honestly. "So it was like a...first sight-type-of-thing? You wouldn't marry Hotaru?"

" _No_...it's not like that, Kamiko-chan – I took one look at her and something inside me changed. It looked like she was in a really tough spot but her eyes showed nothing more but light; fierce and longing."

Rolling her eyes, Kamiko scoffed. "Yeah, don't forget what that 'fierceness' could mean, you know."

"It's still Hotaru. It'll always be, just Hotaru."

"Whatever," she waved. "When her eyes burn and the fires inside her burst; you _know_ how dangerous it is, 'just Hotaru' or not. I was _scared,_ Hachiro. In spite of her amnesia, I know it's something within her." She shuddered slightly at a memory she had tried so hard to forget; a memory of pure, unadulterated fear.

"Well," he straightened his back as he stared at the flame. "I'm not planning on disappearing once her bloodlust reappears. What kind of friend would I be?"

Kamiko nodded, feigning a hum of approval and not entirely wanting to depend on that plan. _It's so much stronger when you see it, fathead._

"She's not _evil_ , Kamiko-chan. Her heart is pure and her intentions are gold. If she ever does something that isn't 'logical', it'll mostly be out of something she believes in."

"You mean like her love for the village? The way she wants to protect it and whatnot?"

"Yeah. You see how she looks at Kazekage-sama too, don't you? She would do _anything_ to protect the ones she loves. Maybe even risk her own life. I believe she's fit to be in his position."

"But she doesn't know about Kazekage-sama; his cruelty sometimes. She doesn't know anything about that position; what must she risk, the decisions she'll have to make _for_ the village. You think she'll change her mind when she finds out about those things?"

He shrugged, grunting softly as he cleared his throat. "I don't know. I can't imagine her ever rejecting the elders if they ask her to become Kazekage. She's crazy about that position."

Kamiko chuckled. "And you want to protect her the same way Kazekage-sama protects the village." She declared more than asked.

"You could say that."

"But you know, Hachiro, she's a kunoichi. A serious one, at that..."

He already knew what she was getting to. "And I'll protect her, no matter what."

Almost smiling, Kamiko blinked, not hesitant about her choice of words. "You know you can't always be there for her."

"But I will be," he pushed. "For the people I couldn't protect, I'll protect her. For the people I couldn't save, I'll save her." _For every single person I've lost…she's one of the people I have left._

Swallowing a wad of nerves, Kamiko repeated, "She's a kunoichi."

"I know," said Hachiro, displeased with the thought. "There's nothing I can change about that and all I can do at this point is _try._ Why do you think I'm so against the idea of Yuji becoming a shinobi? And the worst thing about her is that she acts on her _damn_ emotions." Throwing the stick from the tight grip of his hand, he sighed and rubbed his face from fatigue.

"Right," she agreed reluctantly. "They could get killed out there."

He groaned under his breath. "I won't allow that."

"Hachiro, get a hold of yourself," Kamiko ordered harshly. "It's almost as if the emotional training did nothing for you."

"Don't connect this to that, Kamiko-chan. It's like peaches and plums, for crying out loud."

"Still. Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Look Kamiko-chan, I don't need your input in this. This was a promise I made to myself. I don't need you to tell me how 'wrong' it is or how it's not the way a shinobi must act. I'm going to protect her at all costs."

"And if she one day betrays you? Or hurts you?"

A moment of silence passed before Hachiro breathed deeply. "If it ever comes to that, I'll take care of it myself."

The silence continued afterwards, dense and unwavering.

"Do you think that she's drawn to Gaara because he's the son of Kazekage-sama?" Kamiko asked, nauseating Hachiro further.

"I don't know." he shrugged, uninterested in talking about her further.

Kamiko hummed before continuing to ponder out loud. "Maybe it's their common ground that draws her to him – that 'fire'."

"Like I said; she isn't evil."

"Are you telling me that Gaara is?" she arched an eyebrow.

Sighing and standing up, Hachiro walked toward the entrance. "She wouldn't kill for no reason, unlike him."

"...I guess not." _But we'll have to wait and see, won't we, Hachiro?_ Regarding him, Kamiko shortly shadowed his actions and stood up, pacing over to the sleeping bag positioned on the right side of Hotaru.

"I'll take the next shift." She expressed to him, waiting for a comeback.

He whirred and bobbed his head subtly, beholding the empty sky before situating himself on the ground again.

Biting the insides of her cheeks, Kamiko reclined and observed Hotaru. The brunette's eyes were shut and she shifted indistinctly, facing Hachiro's direction.

Releasing a sigh, Kamiko closed her jade eyes and hoped that she'd fall asleep soon.

Ryota stirred slowly as he sensed her presence behind him, thinking to himself about what she said – about Hotaru. _Dangerous? Her?_

At this point, the genin and superior that were thought to be asleep had actually heard the entire conversation.


	26. 22 - Fire Country

_"And all of the voices surrounding us here_

 _They just fade out when you take a breath."_

* * *

Making sure that Kamiko was asleep; Hotaru gently opened up her eyes and looked at Hachiro sitting near the entrance of the cave. Inhaling deeply, she stood up and strolled over to him, placing a hand on his head.

"I'll take the next shift," she smiled. "I mean it's technically supposed to be Ryota-sensei taking care of us, but I suppose this is his way of making us...'tougher'."

The silver-eyed boy snickered lightly, removing Hotaru's hand from his head. "I'm fine, Aru-chan. Go back to sleep."

"If you expect someone with night terrors to fall asleep easily, then I've got news for you, dipstick." she released her hand from his grip and crossed her legs to sit down on his right, leading her eyes up to what seemed to be a hidden moon.

"So..." she continued slowly, looking at him. "I'm the universe, huh?"

He smiled but gritted his teeth, ordering his blood not to amass at his cheeks. "You heard that?"

"Tch, everyone back at Suna heard it!" she laughed, cuffing him on the shoulder. "Just kidding. You weren't _that_ loud, but I was awake. And maybe it was because I was close to you two. I think Ryota-sensei was awake, too."

"Yeah, well..." he faltered, blinking the liquid of exhaustion out of his eyes. "T'wasn't a secret. You already know how much I care about you, Aru-chan."

"Mhm," she beamed, feeling like home. Abruptly, her eyes expanded and she half-shouted. "You wouldn't marry me?!"

He emitted a loud laugh, clutching his dull green t-shirt over his stomach. "You heard wrong."

"Yeah, _yeah._ Thought we had a deal, you dipstick!"

"You don't know what'll happen in the future!" he whisper-yelled. "I'll be married years before I turn forty."

"...You just said you don't know what'll happen in the future! So, you might _not_ be married by the time you're forty!"

"Shut up," he sneered lightheartedly. "Don't you want to marry that Gaara boy anyway?"

Her blood instantaneously made its way to her cheeks at the mention of his name. "What do you mean? He's just someone I like. I haven't planned anything for the future, dipstick. I'm not Miko-chan."

"Ha! Damn." Hachiro grinned. "If it's not Gaara you'll marry, who do you think you'll end up with?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you _really_ asking me that right now? _Baaa-ka."_

He shrugged, looking to the sky. "I'd rather see you with anyone else, honestly."

His statement struck a nerve. " _Really_? Who then, hm? Who the _hell_ would you rather see me with?"

"Kankurō would be a good choice. Or Kazuhiro."

"Kazu-kun? You're joking!"

"Yeah, I'm serious!"

"Get serious somewhere else," she chose to change the subject, disliking the one they were currently in. "And what was that trash talk about Yondaime-sama, hm? Or this thing about me being like Gaara?"

He eyed her frown before looking away and wiping his eyes, yawning. "Can we talk about that later? I'm _done_ with you and Kamiko-chan's girl-complaints."

Letting out a gasp, Hotaru sent another fist to his arm. "Go to sleep, _aniki_. You obviously need to."

" _You_ go to sleep, Aru-chan. We both know that you need it more than I do." He grunted, inclining on his outstretched arms.

"And we both know that Miko-chan won't wake up to continue after you. I'm already up so might as well give me the shift, dipstick."

"Go away,"

"You need some sleep."

"No, _you_ need some sleep."

Smiling slyly, Hotaru extended her left leg and kicked away Hachiro's right arm, making him fall to the floor. Crawling to his side, her smile widened. "You don't even have the strength to sit up. Go to bed."

A warm half-smile creased the left side of his face before he yawned and sat up. He knew she was going to do that, but he let her. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Go ahead."

"Right then," he murmured. "Take care."

Rolling her eyes, she let out a groan. "We're in a cave, not a battlefield."

He pulled her close and ran his fingers lightly over her face. "'Night, Aru-chan."

Getting up slowly, he strode to his sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, dipstick." she hummed, turning to look at the calm sky.

* * *

 _It's terrifying how much others can care about you._

 _Your life is no longer your own; every choice you make, every step you take and every little thing that you do is being watched. Sure it's sweet, but it's also scary._

 _What if I upset them? What if I hurt them without meaning to? What if they leave? Will I be able to continue doing what I'm doing without their watchful eye? Will I be able to put myself back together if they're not there?_

 _No...he'd never leave. He cares about me too much._

 _Did my parents care about me the way he did? If so, why did they leave? Would they put their lives on the line for me, like he would?_

 _Who would be stupid enough to take their own life while protecting someone they love?_

 _...Who am I kidding? I know I would._

 _Hell, if I were put up to it, I would protect anyone._

 _Heh, baaa-ka._

Hotaru looked up at her best friend, observing him secure the radio around his neck and insert the earphones. He turned to his teacher as she watched, fastening her own radio around her neck while keeping her eyes on him.

"Ryo-sensei, why do we have to wear them now? We won't reach the Fire Country until the afternoon." Hachiro whined, rubbing the back of his head and yawning.

"It's better doing it before-hand," his superior stated, adjusting his glasses. "That way, we won't have to stop once we get there. You don't need to turn it on until we reach there."

"Which is why it would be better if we put them on when we get there," Hachiro murmured under his breath, rolling his eyes. "Not 'before-hand'..."

Ryota cleared his throat and strode to where Hotaru stood, looking ahead at the sandy horizon. "All ready?"

* * *

Giggling, Hotaru spun to her teammates after having splashed into a little puddle along the ground of the Fire Country.

"It's so beautiful out here!" she said with a grin, spreading her arms and twirling the other way as she walked.

"Oh, right," Kamiko muttered. "She hasn't been out of Suna."

"It was worth the wait," Hotaru replied, dazed by her environs. "I've never seen this many beautiful colors. And look at all these _green_ trees!"

She sprinted ahead of them, eager for the day – entirely clashing her teammate's feelings. Ryota had been to the Fire Country countless times, while the other two genin visited about thrice.

Kamiko watched as Hotaru ran from tree to tree, as if taking mental images of them. Hachiro let out an exaggerated drone.

The team brusquely stopped walking once Hotaru was in front of them, gawking at them with an imploring expression. Her knees were brought together and her fists, along with her jaw, were visibly clamped.

" _What_?" Kamiko barked.

Hotaru strained a smile to her features. "I...really, _really_ need to go to the bathroom."

Each of their faces went blank, except for Kamiko's; she rolled her emerald eyes and scowled at Hotaru.

"What?!" Hotaru shouted. "I haven't gone since last night! And this morning, I didn't feel the need to go after I finished _both_ of my bottles and _also_ filled them in the Land of Rivers. I thought of that puddle we passed by and..." shutting her eyes and clenching her fists tighter, Hotaru's cheeks turned slightly red. "Can I please just freaking _go_?!"

"COME ON!" Kamiko screeched, grabbing Hotaru by the elbow and pulling her into the bushes on the right.

* * *

She was humming with her hands on her face and her eyes to the sky, finally relaxed by the release of waste.

"Would you hurry it up? We're already late." Kamiko tensed her grip around the kunai in her right hand, grumbling loudly.

"Relax, we're not late." Hotaru stood and sighed, pulling up her shorts. She opened her mouth to speak but Kamiko's hand was tersely placed over her lips. Humming in perplexity, Hotaru jerked her head and arched an eyebrow.

"Shh," the green eyed girl ordered. "I hear something."

Annoyed, Hotaru licked Kamiko's hand and shoved her away gently. Yelling in a whisper, she asked, "What the hell are—"

She was cut short when a kunai flew by, slicing the left side of Kamiko's kimono while completely going through Hotaru, making her gasp.


	27. 23 - Team Seven Encounter

_"'Cause I've been taken over by the fear."_

* * *

"I hit something! See? I told you I'm not useless!" they heard a voice exclaim from the pathway. A couple of other voices began to mumble as a reply to the voice, but Kamiko and Hotaru were too stunned to eavesdrop.

The redhead glowered straight into Hotaru soul. "Did you not conceal your presence?!"

Hotaru jerked her head. "I didn't think that I needed to!"

The voice of their sensei was heard through their radios and into their ears. "This is _makkuro taka;_ are you two all right?"

"Yes;this is _ankōshoku taka._ None of us are injured. What should we do?" Kamiko advised.

"Be prepared," looking up at the tree branch where Hachiro was crouching, Ryota nodded before speaking. " _Konshō taka;_ when I give you the signal, make your move."

Hachiro nodded back.

Shortly, a new, male voice was soon heard by the two kunoichi. "Reveal yourselves and we won't have a problem."

Gulping, Hotaru looked up at Kamiko and furrowed her eyebrows, not courageous enough to communicate aloud. _What are we supposed to do?_

As if Kamiko had heard her question, she shook her head. _I don't know._

"I'll say it one more time," the voice shouted with more severity. "Reveal yourselves and we won't have a problem!"

Shrugging but still relatively frightened, Hotaru walked towards the bushes. Kamiko seized her by the elbow and wrenched her back, giving her a deeper glare. _What the hell are you doing?!_

Before Hotaru could counter the death stare, numerous kunai were tossed to their bearing. The two had no choice but to emerge this time; prancing off the ground and dodging the series of kunai as they rolled in front of the man that called out to them. Both kunoichi took a defensive stance as their eyes met with what seemed to be another team of genin from the Hidden Leaf village, judging by their headbands.

"We have nothing that you need," Kamiko spat, scowling. "We aren't here to fight you and we pose no danger!"

From where they were standing, they saw a jōnin and supposed that he was the one who called out to them, while another, much older man, stood behind three students that appeared to be around Hotaru's age, or possibly younger.

"Then what's your purpose coming into the Fire Country?" the man asked. His voice was emotionless as was his face, which wasn't entirely revealed since he wore a navy mask that went up to his nose. They notice his dark grey eyes go up to Kamiko's forehead protector as he hummed in thought. "Shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village?"

Both girls stayed their course; Kamiko shielding most of her upper body with her arms and a kunai while Hotaru did the same, only without a weapon in her grasp.

"We were sent by the Kazekage on a mission, which is none of your business." Kamiko replied flatly, anger perceptible in her tone. "That's all."

Hotaru studied the students behind the jōnin. _Are these genin from the Hidden Leaf Village?_ She wondered, pulling her eyebrows together.

Through her eyes, they didn't seem like much; the girl on their team reminded her a great deal of Kamiko with her large green eyes and bright pink hair, but her clothing choice seemed a lot better than Kamiko's in the very least. _Better than a closed-off kimono for sure; a red cheongsam that only reached the knees with shorts underneath, properly sliced from the sides,_ she pondered, breaking down the other kunoichi's outfit. _Pretty easy to move in, I'd say. Konoha genin: 1, Kamiko: 0._

A large shuriken cut through her train of thought, flying into the scene from the upper left of the sky and to their direction. It proceeded nonstop ahead of the kunoichi, separating them from the jōnin.

"Kakashi-sensei!" a boy from the other team shouted, bright blue eyes broadening at the scene.

Hotaru gulped at the sound of his tone. She assessed the boy that she assumed she heard before this entire debacle; other than his eyes being bright, his mass of blonde hair reflected the afternoon sun and his bright orange tracksuit was a complete eyesore.

For a split second, she unconsciously relaxed herself at the worry she felt emitting off of him. Something about the contortion of his tan face brought a sudden poke of ache to her insides. _But what's up with the whiskers?_

She hadn't met anyone with a notable face oddity other than Gaara, but this boy's peculiar cat-like features were much less of a warning, compared to the redhead with unpleasant eyes.

"I'm fine." the man, Kakashi smiled at the boy over his shoulder. Feeling another presence, he looked forward to the other team.

Hachiro leaped in front of the two kunochi, grabbing hold of the shuriken sticking out of the ground and placing it on his back.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-san," he said casually, allowing a smile to his face. "We're not here to enter the village."

"Ah," Kakashi exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Iwai Hachiro, right?"

Nodding, Hachiro bowed. Both kunoichi behind him frowned in confusion, but followed his movements.

"You know these people, Kakashi-sensei?!" the boy from earlier shouted once more, pointing at the sand shinobi.

Kakashi nodded, rubbing the back of his head. Whilst he explained to his team about how he had known them, Hachiro turned to Kamiko and asked, "Don't you remember him? He helped us way back when we visited Konoha."

Kamiko shook her head, making Hachiro shrug. "Doesn't matter." He continued.

Ryota emerged from the cluster of trees on the team's left side. "Sorry for any inconveniences my team has caused you, Kakashi-san."

"It's no problem at all," Kakashi put his right hand up, smiling with his one visible eye closed. "One can never be too careful out here."

"Right," Ryota agreed. "We were sent by Kazekage-sama to retrieve a bird and a boar. We were told that they'd be in the Fire Country. The bird looks like..."

As the jōnins continued their conversation, the Suna ninja studied the ones from Konoha.

"HEY!" the boy clad in orange yelled once more, causing his teammates and the elderly behind him to place their palms over their ears. "Kakashi-sensei's ignoring us-dattebayo!"

"He's ignoring _you,_ " the kunoichi with pink hair murmured.

 _...Dattebayo?_ Hotaru questioned, grimacing.

"Cute little pipsqueaks," Hachiro cooed. "I could put them all in my little pocket."

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!" the boy in orange continued. It irritated all of those around him, except for the youngest genin amongst the team of Suna shinobi. "You're talking to the future Hokage of Konoha-dattebayo!"

"Oh yeah?" a smile was present in Hotaru's features as she advanced towards the other genin. "Well, I'm going to be the future Kazekage, dipstick! Beat that!"

The boy ahead of her crossed his arms, frowning. "The Hokage can beat the Kazekage anyday!"

"Is that a challenge?" she grinned widely. _I can't believe we actually encountered other shinobi,_ she thought as her eyes twinkled, watching the younger boy in front of her. _This is so...exciting!_

"Naruto, stop it."

She didn't look to the other person who spoke, so she continued to taunt the blonde boy. _"Naruto?_ What kind of a name is _that?_ _Na-ru-to!"_

The blonde, Naruto, stepped forward as he continued to shout. "Hey! What's wrong with—"

"Naruto, _stop it."_

Shifting her gaze to the left of the blonde boy, Hotaru's smile faded gradually at the sight of the genin she didn't notice earlier. _That voice is so..._ before she could think of a word, she found herself blushing.

He was a boy of fair skin and midnight hair, accompanied by firm oil-black eyes and the facial expression that reminded Hotaru of someone back in Suna. Unlike his teammates in bright orange and deep red, he wore a plain navy t-shirt and cotton-white shorts. He and his loud teammate wore their forehead protectors' right where they belonged, while the girl with the pink hair wore it as a headband.

Hotaru forced a half-smile at him. "And who are _you_?"

He looked at her with hooded eyes, uninterested in a conversation. "None of your business."

"HEY!" Naruto screamed. "Don't pay attention to Sasuke! You're talking to _me-ttebayo_!"

 _Sasuke?_ Hotaru couldn't answer, since the boys began to argue.

"This sight reminds me of something." Hachiro snickered and nudged Hotaru, smiling at Kamiko.

Huffing, the redhead studied the genin in front of them. The girl with the pink hair soon joined in their argument, mostly smacking Naruto on the head. The elderly man standing behind them was backing away slowly as his eyes wandered about.

 _These three kids are supposed to protect me?_ He thought, drinking out of a silver flask. _I need someone to repeat that for me, just one more time..._

"These are Konoha genin?" Kamiko asked. _They're not like how I remember them_. "Why are they so skinny?"

"Right?" Hachiro agreed. _Why did they look much bigger before?_ "They're short too."

"We're her height!" Naruto exclaimed, breaking the argument between him and Sasuke while pointing at Hotaru. "Plus, Sakura-chan's not short!"

 _Sakura?_ " _You're_ actually much shorter, dipstick," a sharp giggle released itself from Hotaru's chest. She pointed at herself with her thumb. " _Ore-wa_ Hotaru. And you?"

Kamiko's eyes rolled. _There she goes again...talking like a boy that has something to prove._

" _Ore-wa_ Uzumaki Naruto!" the blonde exclaimed, imitating Hotaru. "And I'm going to become the best Hokage in Kage history!"

At that point, Hotaru and Naruto started to argue.

 _...Kunoichi of the sand aren't that different than the ones in our village, are they?_ The pink-headed girl, Sakura, thought as she watched the two bicker. Actually, all she could really think of was Sasuke's thoughts on the situation – what he was thinking at that moment and if he was wondering the same things she was. _They are very pretty; though...fit bodies with barely a fraction of a flaw..._

For a moment, Sakura couldn't help but feel somewhat envious.

Sasuke, however, was trying to figure out the strengths of their guests, analyzing them from head to toe. He wasn't surprised by the way Hotaru's expressions changed; they reminded him of Naruto's, so he disregarded her existence.

 _That genin could prove to be a problem – he looks more like chūnin,_ Sasuke thought as his eyes went up to Hachiro. Judging him by his physical build and how his guard was high and constant, Sasuke couldn't see himself going against the massive boy.

It didn't take a skilled ninja to evaluate other ninjas abilities either; from the contortion of Hachiro's face; Sasuke could tell that he would be a worthy opponent to fight against.

But it wasn't long before Sasuke concluded Hachiro's weakness.

Hachiro's eyes softened when he looked at Hotaru, and Sasuke immediately understood what the brunette meant to him. After all, Sasuke had the same tender look on his face back when he was younger, when he would look up to his older brother.

 _Tch, what does it matter?_ Sasuke thought, prying his eyes away when Hachiro looked at him. _It's not like we're going to fight them anyway._ But then he snapped internally, deciding to contradict himself. _If we were to go one-on-one though, who would win? That's impossible to know...I have seen nothing of his techniques; only him using that gigantic shuriken on his back. I'm sure that isn't his only way of attacking, either._

"I guess that's enough time wasted," Ryota said, clearing his throat. "I'll see you during the chūnin exams, Kakashi-san."

The silver haired jōnin arched his visible eyebrow. "You'll be entering all three of your genin?"

Ryota nodded.

"Hopefully Kamiko and Hachiro make it this time," Kakashi continued. "What do you suppose of your youngest genin?"

Looking over his shoulders, Ryota grunted. "The chūnin exams are only a month and a half away. I'm hoping that by the time it comes by, she'll be strong enough to pass it. The other two have already been through it twice and to be frank, I hope that they pass it as well."

"Sounds like you don't believe in your students, Ryota-san."

"How we function in the Sand is completely different than how the Konoha genin are taught or treated. If we don't discipline them or push them to their limits, what good are they at being ninja?"

Kakashi almost chuckled. "You sound like Baki-san." He brought his hand to his concealed lips, as if to hide a smile that Ryota already couldn't see. _I wonder if he was the one to put such logic into you, Ryota-san?_

"To be frank, unlike Konoha, we don't have an abundance of shinobi. In Suna, we grind our students to the bone to weed out the ones worthy of the title 'ninja'. In your academies, you teach them mere chakra control and bunshin jutsus, while we teach our students how to use their chakra natures. I believe our shinobi are much stronger than yours, given such cases and circumstances."

"On what morals?" Kakashi shrugged. "A shinobi's character is what makes them strong and judging from all the way over here; the oldest genin on your team may be the strongest. Him and that loud one in the middle. The girl on the right? Maybe...not so much. Kamiko, right?"

It had certainly been a while since both villages came together and seeing someone Kakashi hadn't seen for a long time somewhat entertained him.

"We'll have to wait and see, won't we, Kakashi-san?" the other jōnin smiled, putting his hands on his hips.

"I suppose so; just make sure you're teaching your students the right thing," said Kakashi. "Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto! Let's go; we're late!"

"HA?" Naruto shouted, pushing Hotaru aside to look at his teacher. "You only realize that _now_ , Kakashi-sensei? We were standing here for one hour already-ttebayo!"

"We've only been here for about four minutes Naruto," Sakura sighed before punching Naruto on the head. "Don't exaggerate!" she looked around Kamiko to her teacher and nodded. "We're coming, Kakashi-sensei!"

As soon as the kunoichi with pink hair started moving, the rest of Team Seven of Konoha followed.

" _Jā-ne,_ Na-ru-to, Sa-kura, Sasu-ke." Hotaru grinned, waving at them as they passed Kamiko by.

"See you never, _baaaka!_ " Naruto turned around to say, putting his tongue out at her.

Hotaru did the felt warm inside, happy that her first encounter with other shinobi wasn't such a bad one. _I wonder if everyone in Konoha's like that._

Turning away, Team Seven of Suna began to walk forward as their eyes caught Ryota walking towards them.

Sasuke turned around before the Sand shinobi disappeared from sight, hindering his team from advancing. "Hey, you,"

Hachiro knew that Sasuke had taken an interest in him. He looked over his shoulder and gave Sasuke a smirk. "Hm?"

"I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't tell you my name." scoffing, Hachiro looked ahead at his teammates, following them as they pranced off the ground and into the trees to the left.

 _Tch..._ Sasuke thought.


	28. 24 - Excited and Frightened

_"And you can sleep in a coffin,_

 _But the past ain't through with you."_

* * *

Team Seven of Suna swooped northwest, where Kakashi had told Ryota to head. With little to no doubts in his mind, Ryota followed his fellow jōnin's directions while hoping for the best.

It's not that he didn't trust Kakashi, but the fact that they were from two completely different backgrounds and upbringings surely had its disadvantages against his peace of mind. In spite of being allied villages, Konoha and Suna had their inner and most vindictive challenges within their elders; concealed jealousy and distaste, constantly brought about suspicions and personal battles from shinobi to shinobi.

But Ryota admired Kakashi and wished that he could understand the silver-haired man much more.

"What's wrong with Ryota-sensei?" Kamiko asked, frowning. "He doesn't seem to be himself today." _Was it the encounter with the Konoha shinobi? It couldn't have affected him that much, could it?_

"He's just doubtful." Hachiro answered.

Hotaru decided to change the subject. " _Aniki,_ how many people have you killed so far?"

Hachiro drew in a sharp breath before looking at her. "Why are you asking?"

"That jōnin...his eyes must've seen death multiple times; when he killed someone or when it was happening in front of him. His eyes were...dark, like he's been to hell and back. Is that what it takes to be a jōnin?"

* * *

After a long argument, Hotaru learned that the amount of killings does not define her as a shinobi or a kunoichi; her morals and standards do. Shinobi don't _kill_ , they defeat, and there are those that don't deserve death.

But still; _I'm so scared but so excited._

Hotaru then dashed forward to have a conversation with her teacher on the subject, while her teammates fell behind to exchange an all-too-familiar glance.

"Hachiro…" Kamiko droned.

"I know," the older boy snapped. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?! Was it just me or was there actually a little bit of bloodlust, spilling out of her just there?"

Hachiro bit his lower lip, looking for an answer. _I felt it all right; but this is Hotaru we're talking about..._

"You're just as afraid as I am, then." The redhead concluded, closing her eyes.

Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, Hachiro grunted. "Afraid?"

"Her bloodlust; that was only small fraction of it and without even having to say it, you _know_ there's an entire world behind it."

He shrugged, looking away. "Bloodlust is in all of us. It was only a matter of time before she felt it again."

Sneering, Kamiko moved closer to her teammate. "Bloodlust _is_ in all of us but not the same way it is in _her_. Don't play dumb, moron. It's almost like...like...Ga—"

"Not even close, Kamiko-chan," Hachiro silenced her, muffling the rage burning inside him. "She wouldn't kill for no reason or for the heck of it. You're the moron here."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because if what you're saying is true, she would've killed one of us by now with little to no remorse, which she didn't. If you really think her bloodlust is similar to Gaara's, then _that's_ proof enough for you to think otherwise," he paused for a moment before muttering, "...I hope."

Kamiko hated to admit it out loud, so she admitted it to herself – admitted how wrong she was on multiple occasions and having to be schooled by Hachiro. _Pathetic._

* * *

The lake was incredibly vast and utterly beautiful through Hotaru's eyes. Faint, twinkling lights were reflected on its surface, along with bright streaks of a full moon that seemed to have befriended the body of water.

Her eyes grew wide at the sight while her teammates began to plop themselves onto the grass behind her. The atmosphere wasn't as humid as she thought it would be, though Hotaru preferred Sunagakure's cold, loud howls of wind compared to the calm breeze of the Fire Country. She tip-toed her way to the shore and crouched, watching the steadiness of the river.

"So what now, Ryota-sensei?" questioned Kamiko.

"Now..." he sighed. "Now, we wait; from dusk to dawn."

* * *

"Aren't you sleepy?" Hachiro asked the brunette as he looked up to the stars.

"No; I'm _way_ too excited to sleep," she replied with a grin in her tone. "There's not much time before sunrise anyway. Gotta keep an eye out for that ibis."

Hachiro didn't want to take a risk with the thoughts in his head, but decided against himself. "About what happened earlier though...you know, sometimes the lack of sleep causes one's mental state to become unstable; emotionally, too."

"There you go again," Hotaru remarked sarcastically, chuckling afterwards. "Calling me _crazy_."

"I'm not calling you crazy," _...am I?_ "I'm just saying you need some sleep because if you don't, how do you expect to perform well on this important mission?"

 _He's playing with words again..._ "Keep it to yourself, dipstick. I know that you think that me claiming to want to defeat and/or kill as many people as I want to makes me crazy. And for some reason, you think that my lack of sleep is causing this. Admit it."

"See, _now_ you're acting crazy," he forced a smile to his face, guilt forming like a massive ball at his navel. "Besides, a little shut-eye never hurt anyone."

"Tch, whatever." she stood and walked into the shallow water.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to scale this river to see how far it goes. If I get lucky, I'll find the bird. If I don't, I'll come back," Hotaru sent a finger to his backpack, which was resting against the doe-eyed Kamiko. "The bentos all have your names on them, so that no one would get confused."

A soft chuckle parted his lips. "Take care. Be back soon, all right Aru-chan?"

"Sure thing, dipstick," she bent low and imitated him by running her fingers lightly over his face, making him stiffen and blush slightly. "Don't worry about me."

Before he knew it, her feet were merged with the river and her legs turned into liquid. She smiled at him and gave him a wink, soon disappearing along the lines of the river.

 _Who knew she was much faster on water?_ He thought.

* * *

While her teammates back at the campsite waited for her, Hotaru dashed along the riverside, humming to herself as her large eyes gleamed at the scene of the nature neighboring her.

"Amazing," she slurred regularly, her heart beat on the surface of her skin. "It's so amazing out here."

With no luck on her side, she halfheartedly returned to her teammates in a substantial lament.

"I'm guessing you didn't find it?" Hachiro supposed through a mouthful of rice, glancing at Hotaru over his shoulder.

She shrugged, releasing an additional countenance of dissatisfaction. "No. You'd think I would—I mean, of all the other dipstick creatures I came across, the Scarlet Ibis would be one of them, but no." A cringe vibrated her insides and limbs at the memory of running her hands over slimy earthworms. _Eugh...!_

"Wasn't expecting anything else to be honest," Kamiko said as she rolled her eyes, taking a bite off boiled eggs. "No matter how big the ibis is – looks like you're just too blind to see it."

"Instead of thanking me for the food, she manages to say something as bitter as that," the brunette murmured, pacing to where Hachiro rested and sat down. Clutching his backpack and squaring her shoulders, Hotaru cleared her throat and augmented her voice at the redhead. "Why don't we see you give it a try, huh? If you think you'll find it, go ahead! Be my damn guest, you throwaway dipstick."

" _Throwaway?!"_ Kamiko gasped in a rather exaggerated method. "Look, you fathead, I'll have you know that—"

"Save it," Hachiro grated, tossing his head back. " _Really,_ just save it."

"We're going to prepare ourselves soon; Hotaru, I suggest you eat up quickly and get your gear equipped," Ryota announced as he stood up. He adjusted the goggles on the bridge of his nose before he started to stretch, shortly turning to the mass of trees behind him. "I'll find some tools we could use for when we capture the boar; the bird – Hachiro will use the reverse-summoning scroll to send it straight to Suna."

Hotaru previously began eating when Ryota stood up. "Wish we could send the boar, too..."

"Pulling the boar about would reinforce you lot a little bit, so it's a worthy process." said Ryota.

"Hmm..." Hotaru wasn't exactly thinking of his words; rather, she was pondering over the taste on her tongue from the food she prepared. _Maybe I should have started a fire...this would taste so much better if it were warm..._

"I'll be back soon." announced Ryota, prancing onto the branches above them and rapidly vanishing into the woods.


	29. 25 - Bloodlust

_"Say your prayers,_

 _Cause I ain't leaving here without you."_

* * *

The black-haired man was back before Hotaru could perfect her explanation of her emotions towards her teammates; the urge to kill was something not out of evilness or anything along those lines, it was mere excitement.

"Excitement? Over the thought of killing?" Kamiko gawked at Hotaru derisively. "Sounds psychopathic to me." she rolled her eyes and placed her empty bento box back in Hachiro's backpack.

"Like I said earlier dipstick; it's not something I can explain. It's just...a really strong feeling. I can't wait to fight, get my adrenalin rushing…it'll be so much stronger compared to reaching my limits during a training session."

Ryota cleared his throat while looking at the sky. Dawn began to break as the navy above them gradually burned in fiery red, entwining with the atmosphere of scorching orange clouds. He began to think that the bird could easily camouflage in such a palette, which could be one of the reasons to why it chose to fly out during this time of day.

"Hotaru, are you ready?" the senior asked as he looked down to his students.

"Mhm!" Hotaru beamed up at him, already holding the bow and arrow in a tight clasp. "Just give me the signal when it's in sight, sensei."

A few minutes passed but it only felt like mere seconds to Hotaru.

"Don't get nervous," Hachiro said steadily. "Can't aim when you're shaking this much, Aru-chan."

"I'm not nervous…I'm excited!"

He rolled his eyes but his features voiced nothing but content. Looking up at the sky, he pressed on her shoulder lightly. "OK, get ready."

She followed his gaze and before Ryota could say a word, she had already spotted The Scarlet Ibis. Her eyes glowed as she followed its movements, her smile stretching across her face.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Hotaru said as she closed her right eye and aimed ahead of the wondrous being. She pulled out three more arrows – judging by the size of the bird, one was nowhere near enough.

 _If my guesses are correct, it'll turn around after passing that rabbit-looking cloud,_ Hotaru thought. _But I'll get it before it could make that turn._

"Clever move." Hachiro mumbled, placing a thumb over his lips.

"She's trying to predict the bird's next whereabouts," Ryota explicated to the interrogative Kamiko. "And is going to attack based on her predictions."

"What if she's wrong?" Kamiko asked, arching an eyebrow. "The bird will become alarmed and turn the other way, not coming back here again."

"Don't doubt me, dipstick." Hotaru commanded. "I _know_ what I'm doing."

But Ryota didn't answer, since Kamiko's questions were not ones a fool would ask. _If she_ is _wrong, then we'd have to change course and wait a whole other day for the next sighting of the ibis. Don't mess this up, Hotaru. We're counting on you._

Their heartbeats soon picked up as Hotaru's posture lingered on for more seconds; while she could hear nothing but her breathing and the sound of her pulse, she decided to trust her instinct and close her eyes.

"What is she thinking?!" Kamiko hissed, stepping forward.

Ryota let his hand hover in Kamiko's direction. "Let her concentrate."

Minutes went by; Hotaru released an extensive exhale before she let go of her arrows. She refused to open her eyes, not until she could hear the sound of her prey's yelp.

As if time were taunting her, it felt like exaggerated seconds went by before the satisfying sound reached her ears. She opened her eyes and smiled triumphantly as the bird tumbled through the air, landing on the surface of the river and threatening to sink.

" _YES!"_ Hotaru exclaimed, already running to the bird.

"Wait!" Hachiro shouted, but she was already splashing her way to the oversized red mammal.  
Ryota was the one to stay behind as the three genins ran to the ibis; Hachiro pulled Kamiko along with him, knowing that the arrows couldn't have possibly killed it.

"You have your tranquilizers, right?" He asked the girl running behind him.

"Of course I do!"

The Scarlet Ibis's eyes were closed but it was shuddering tremulously. Hotaru began to caress its feathers as she hummed.

"Miko-chan, give me your tranquilizers." she blindly extended her hand to the ones behind her.

Rolling her eyes, Kamiko asked, "The old fashioned way? Or a dart?"

"Obviously a dart, you dingbat." Hachiro groaned.

Kamiko tsk-ed before reaching into the pouch that hung on her back and handing Hotaru what she asked for.

Feeling remorse for the animal that she had just hunted down, Hotaru continued to caress the area below the bird's long neck, beginning to hum again. Her little arm was lost within its gigantic, red feathers.

Placing the thin needle of the dart close to home, she shut her eyes and pierced the animal's skin, exhaling heavily and turning away once she was done.

"You two can pick it up, right...?" the brunette asked, opening her eyes and trying to let herself relax.

"Why don't you simply merge with the water and carry it over to shore?" Kamiko questioned. It was as if she wasn't even _trying_ to be irritating – she _naturally_ was.

Sighing, Hotaru nodded and merged her body with the water beneath her, soon carrying the heavy bird with the waves. _I'm so sorry._

As soon as they arrived to the shore, Hotaru could no longer contain her excitement. "I can't believe it!" she said delightfully, slowly lowering the bird's head on the ground. "First animal; done!"

Ryota couldn't help but smile as he walked over to its slumbering body. "Good job you three," he allowed a smile to spread across his features. "Hachiro, your turn to get ready this time."

Nodding, Hachiro crouched low and opened up his backpack to produce a scroll for the bird.

Before he could open it though, his fellow kunoichi's voices were loud in his ears.

"Miko-chan!" Hotaru screamed, instantaneously grabbing Hachiro's attention.

Also hearing his superior curse out loud along with the shuffling of his feet, Hachiro looked up to see a man wearing a flak jacket and everything else a chūnin or a jōnin would wear; except, he couldn't quite locate his forehead protector.

"Walk away from the bird and I won't kill her." the man said roughly, holding Kamiko in a tight headlock with a kunai pointed to her abdomen.

At the sound of his words—notably, the subject of his sentence—did Hotaru's blood rush. The velocity of her heartbeat picked up as her entire body shook with the satisfaction of a willing prey, causing her breaths to become hefty as a sadistic smile pulled up the corners of her lips. Her eyes glazed over in the blackness of her pupils, like a cloud of cephalopod ink: spreading and blackening the ocean.

"Finally," she purred, still sounding as eager as she previously was, but with a twinge of menace to it. " _Finally...!"_

Even though she stood behind Hachiro, he couldn't help but stiffen at the intense aura she was releasing. It had dawned on him after a few seconds that this whirlwind of invisible needles was the feeling of her bloodlust—pure, unadulterated bloodlust, searing through the little openings of his cells.

Kamiko expanded her eyes at the youngest genin. _She lost herself again. I-I don't want to be here! Not with that...that feeling..._ she began to thrash and move about as the man tried to hold her down, lightly pressing the sharp tip of the kunai deeper into her hips.

It was the first time Ryota underwent the ferociousness of one of his own students; he didn't know whether to be alarmed or enthralled; what surprised him was the fact that one of his _genin_ students discharged such a strong desire for violence...

"Hotaru, stand down." he ordered.

Hachiro couldn't even begin to understand how his superior spoke to her whilst she was in that state. He looked up to the criminal.

"What are your conditions?" he leisurely brought his hand above the pouch on his lower back.

"Don't try anything funny!" the man's voice was quaking in fear from the look on Hotaru's face; from the sudden force that radiated out of her, like a meteor slamming itself on the ground. "Just get away from the bag, throw down all your weapons and hand over the...the bird."

Hotaru let out a scoff. "Or else?" she provoked, arching an eyebrow and letting her smile broaden.

"Or else...?" he released a panicked respire before driving the kunai further into Kamiko's skin. "Or else...she-she dies!"

"Leave me!" Kamiko cried, squirming in the man's clutch. "You have the ibis; just get on with your mission and leave me. That's what's most important!"

"What makes you think we give a damn about _her?"_ Hotaru smirked.

Things were ensuing all at once yet in sheer slow motion; Hachiro opened up a sprint to the ibis's direction, causing the man to pull Kamiko away. She continued to scream in defiance, clawing at the man's arm with her nails.

Hotaru stepped to Hachiro's side, a soft breath escaping her as she licked her lips.

"Hotaru," Ryota said. "We have the bird. We'll send it at once and leave." _Our objective is to retrieve the bird and nothing more; they know this, especially Kamiko, who's taking the fall._

But this wasn't in Hotaru's agenda; she surged off the ground, straight to the man ahead.

 _Shit,_ Hachiro thought as he began to quickly form a hand seal. The man that was now quaking started to shout and, out of fear, rammed the kunai into Kamiko's hip.

 _Do they not care about their comrade?_ The man thought, straightaway regretting his action. _These sand shinobi are...insane! To trade the life of an animal to one of a human being's?_

Kamiko closed her eyes and shrieked. As soon as she opened them, Hotaru was in front of her; rosewood colors of the ether fitting with the bloodlust in her eyes.

Hotaru pulled out her kunai.

 _No!_ Kamiko screamed in her head, terrified. _No, I don't want to be here!_ Tears soaked her eyes, not soon after were they rolling down her cheeks.

Ryota couldn't comprehend the way Hotaru's teammates were behaving; especially Hachiro, since Ryota felt bloodlust regularly excrete out of the boy. It was true that Hachiro's urge to kill was not as austere as Hotaru's currently was, but it was extant nonetheless.

The youngest genin clenched the kunai tighter. When she was _almost_ ready to charge at the man, the ravenous look in her eyes waned.

All too quickly did the bloodlust dissipate around her, befuddling her audience at the back.

She felt confusion, out of all things; overpowering perplexity at the touch of the object in her hands. Scowling, she let her brown eyes lower to the gadget, leaving her mind to drown in questions. _What is this? The man's going to kill Miko-chan; what the hell am I doing?!_

Her knees buckled and she allowed her body to drop to the ground. Her heart was still pounding, fleetingly thunderous, but her fortitude was substituted by the unreserved sensation of bewilderment.


End file.
